Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals SC-900 Practice Question
An administrator is comparing encryption and hashing when deciding how to protect data in Microsoft 365. Which statement correctly describes how hashing differs from encryption?
Hashing significantly increases the size of the data, but encryption keeps data length unchanged.
Hashing creates a fixed-length value that cannot be reversed, while encrypted data can be returned to its original form with the appropriate key.
Hashing protects confidentiality but not integrity, whereas encryption protects integrity but not confidentiality.
Hashing requires a public/private key pair, whereas encryption never uses keys.
Hashing takes an input of any length and produces a fixed-length digest that is designed to be irreversible. Because the process cannot be reversed, hashing is used to verify data integrity, such as when Microsoft 365 checks file hashes after download. Encryption, by contrast, is a reversible operation: the original plaintext can be recovered by applying the correct decryption key, which is why encryption is suited to protecting confidentiality. The other answers are incorrect because hashing does not rely on key pairs, does not inherently enlarge data, and does not provide confidentiality-those properties are associated with encryption.
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Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals SC-900
Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
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