CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 (V7) Practice Question

The correct answer is Virtual Private Network (VPN) because it is specifically designed to create a secure, encrypted tunnel for a wide range of network traffic over an untrusted network like the internet. By encapsulating and encrypting data packets, a VPN ensures that all data transmitted between a client and a private network is protected from eavesdropping and interception.

Remote desktop is incorrect because, while modern Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) implementations do use encryption, their primary function is to provide a user with graphical remote control of another computer. They are not designed for the general-purpose tunneling of all network traffic that a VPN provides.

File transfer protocol (FTP) is incorrect as the standard version of this protocol transmits both credentials and data in plaintext, making it inherently insecure. Secure alternatives like SFTP or FTPS are required to encrypt file transfers.

Secure Shell (SSH) is incorrect in this context because, although it is a powerful protocol for secure network services like remote command-line access and can create secure tunnels for specific applications (port forwarding), it is not typically used to encrypt all of a device's network traffic in the comprehensive way a VPN does.