200-201 Security Concepts Practice Question
An organization implements encryption for all sensitive data at rest and in transit to prevent unauthorized access. Which element of the CIA triad is being primarily addressed?
⚠ Common exam trap
200-201 often tests the distinction between confidentiality and integrity; candidates may confuse encryption with hashing, but encryption primarily provides confidentiality.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Confidentiality
Encryption of data at rest and in transit ensures that only authorized parties can read the data, thus addressing confidentiality. Confidentiality is the element of the CIA triad focused on preventing unauthorized access to information.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation proves a specific party performed an action, typically via digital signatures and audit trails. Encryption hides content but does not bind an identity to it. Non-repudiation would be correct if the requirement were proving who sent or signed data.
- ✗
Integrity
Why it's wrong here
Integrity concerns detecting unauthorised modification, assured through hashing and digital signatures. Encryption prevents disclosure, so it addresses confidentiality. Integrity would be the correct answer if the scenario described tamper detection or verification that data had not been altered.
- ✗
Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability ensures authorised users can access systems and data when needed, addressed through redundancy, backups and DDoS protection. Encryption does not maintain uptime. Availability would be the correct answer if the scenario described resilience, failover or guaranteed access.
- ✓
Confidentiality
Why this is correct
Encryption at rest and in transit renders data unintelligible to anyone lacking the decryption key, directly preventing unauthorised disclosure. This satisfies the stem's constraint of preventing unauthorised access, which maps to confidentiality within the CIA triad. Integrity concerns alteration, and availability concerns uptime, neither of which encryption primarily delivers.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 200-201 question from scratch — 968 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
This 200-201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-201 exam.