Preventing Email Sniffing: Best Protocols and Security Measures

Preventing Email Sniffing: Top Protocols

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Question

Confidential emails from an organization were posted to a website without the organization's knowledge.

Upon investigation, it was determined that the emails were obtained from an internal actor who sniffed the emails in plain text.

Which of the following protocols, if properly implemented, would have MOST likely prevented the emails from being sniffed? (Choose two.)

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A. B. C. D. E.

CD.

The scenario described in the question is a case of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information. In this case, confidential emails from an organization were obtained by an internal actor who sniffed them in plain text, and they were posted on a website without the organization's knowledge.

To prevent such unauthorized disclosure, organizations can implement security measures such as encryption and secure protocols. The question asks which protocols, if properly implemented, would have most likely prevented the emails from being sniffed.

The two protocols that would have most likely prevented the emails from being sniffed are:

  1. S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions): S/MIME is a protocol that provides encryption and digital signature services for email messages. S/MIME ensures the confidentiality and integrity of email messages by encrypting them before they are sent and verifying the digital signature of the sender. This protocol can prevent unauthorized disclosure of email messages by ensuring that they are only readable by the intended recipient.

  2. HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure): HTTPS is a protocol that provides encryption and authentication services for web communication. HTTPS encrypts web traffic between a user's browser and a web server, ensuring that sensitive information is protected from interception by unauthorized parties. In the case of the scenario described in the question, implementing HTTPS would have ensured that the website where the confidential emails were posted was secured and encrypted, preventing the internal actor from sniffing the emails in plain text.

In summary, implementing S/MIME and HTTPS protocols would have most likely prevented the unauthorized disclosure of the confidential emails by encrypting the messages and ensuring the security of the website where they were posted.