Question

A development team must encrypt a very large volume of files on a backup server. Performance is critical, and the same trusted internal system will both encrypt and later decrypt the data using a single shared key. Which type of encryption is the MOST appropriate choice for this bulk data-at-rest task?

Accepted Answer

Symmetric encryption, because a single shared key provides fast performance for large data volumes

Answer

Asymmetric encryption, because a public/private key pair is required to encrypt any stored data

Answer

Hashing, because it converts the files into a fixed-length value that can later be reversed to plaintext

Answer

Digital signatures, because they encrypt bulk data faster than any other method