CompTIA Security+ Question F-94

A bank has a fleet of aging payment terminals used by merchants for transactional processing. The terminals currently support single DES but require an upgrade in order to be compliant with security standards. Which of the following is likely to be the simplest upgrade to the aging terminals which will improve in-transit protection of transactional data?

A. AES
B. 3DES
C. RC4
D. WPA2

Answer: B

Explanation:
3DES (Triple DES) is based on DES.

In cryptography, Triple DES (3DES) is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm symmetric-key block cipher, which applies the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher algorithm three times to each data block. The electronic payment industry uses Triple DES and continues to develop and promulgate standards based upon it (e.g. EMV). Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook 2007, and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012, use Triple DES to password protect user content and system data.