SY0-701 General Security Concepts Practice Question
A legal department needs a contract file that can later prove who signed it and whether the content changed after signing. Which cryptographic mechanism should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse hashing (which provides integrity) with digital signatures (which provide both integrity and non-repudiation), leading them to pick hashing when the question explicitly requires proof of who signed it.
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
✓
Digital signature
A digital signature provides non-repudiation, ensuring the signer cannot deny signing the document, and integrity, detecting any changes after signing. It uses asymmetric cryptography where the signer's private key creates the signature, and the public key verifies it, making it the correct choice for proving both identity and content integrity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Digital signature
Why this is correct
A digital signature applies asymmetric cryptography: the signer's private key encrypts a hash of the document, and the corresponding public key verifies that the hash came from that signer and the document is unchanged. This binds the contract irrevocably to the specific signer, providing authentication, integrity, and non-repudiation. It is precisely the mechanism legal departments need to ensure a contract is legally enforceable and attributable.
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Symmetric encryption
Why it's wrong here
Symmetric encryption, such as AES, uses a single shared key to both encrypt and decrypt data, protecting confidentiality of the contract file. However, since both contracting parties would possess the same key, it cannot identify which party produced the ciphertext; moreover, without an authentication mode, an attacker could alter the ciphertext undetected. Thus, symmetric encryption neither validates the signer's identity nor establishes document integrity on its own.
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Hashing
Why it's wrong here
Hashing produces a fixed-length digest from the document contents using a one-way algorithm like SHA-256. While it detects any modification to the file, it does not incorporate the signer's identity or cryptographic key, so anyone could compute the same hash. Thus, hashing confirms data integrity but cannot authenticate who signed the contract or establish non-repudiation.
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Tokenization
Why it's wrong here
Tokenization replaces sensitive values (e.g., names, ID numbers) with non-sensitive placeholder tokens stored in a secure mapping table. This process is designed for data privacy and reducing compliance scope, such as in payment card handling, but it provides no mechanism for verifying document authenticity or binding a signer to the content. Consequently, tokenization cannot serve any signature-validation purpose in a legal contract workflow.
Quick reference
Symmetric Encryption Algorithm Comparison
| Algorithm | Key Size | Block Size | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AES-128 | 128-bit | 128-bit | Current standard | NIST approved; WPA3, TLS |
| AES-256 | 256-bit | 128-bit | Current standard | Preferred for sensitive / govt data |
| 3DES | 112-bit effective | 64-bit | Deprecated (2023) | Replaced by AES |
| DES | 56-bit | 64-bit | Broken | Cracked in < 24 h; never deploy |
| ChaCha20 | 256-bit | Stream cipher | Current | TLS 1.3, WireGuard |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cryptography Fundamentals
Key term
Integrity
Integrity is the assurance that data has not been altered or tampered with in an unauthorized way, preserving its accuracy and consistency from source to destination.
Key term
Non-repudiation
Non-repudiation is a security principle that ensures a party in a digital transaction cannot deny their involvement or the authenticity of their digital signature.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SY0-701 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 SY0-701 exam.