Exam SY0-701 topic 1 question 380 discussion

The correct answer is: D. Elliptic curve cryptography Explanation: Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is preferred for securing communications with limited computing resources because it offers strong security with relatively small key sizes compared to other cryptographic methods like RSA. This makes it particularly suitable for devices with constrained resources such as mobile phones, IoT devices, or embedded systems. ECC provides efficient performance in terms of computation, memory usage, and bandwidth, making it an ideal choice for resource-limited environments.

From Study Guide: The drawback of asymmetric encryption is that it involves substantial computing overhead compared to symmetric encryption. Where a large amount of data is being encrypted on disk or transported over a network, asymmetric encryption is inefficient. Rather than being used to encrypt the bulk data directly, the public key cipher can be used to encrypt a symmetric secret key. The Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) asymmetric cipher can use 256-bit private keys to achieve a level of security equivalent to a 3,072-bit RSA key. I think the technical correct answer is D, but exam correct answer is C.

The correct answer is C. Symmetric encryption because it is the most resource-efficient cryptographic method, using a single shared key for both encryption and decryption, which requires less processing power and is faster. While Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) (answer D) is more efficient than traditional asymmetric methods like RSA, it still involves asymmetric encryption, which is generally more computationally intensive than symmetric encryption. Therefore, for systems with limited computing resources, symmetric encryption is the better choice.