hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CCSP Practice Question: A healthcare organization wants to perform…
A healthcare organization wants to perform analytics on encrypted patient data without decrypting it first, to maintain privacy. Which cryptographic technique supports this use case?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between 'processing on encrypted data' and 'protecting data at rest or in transit'—candidates mistakenly choose FPE or tokenization because they see 'encrypted' or 'token' and assume it supports analytics, but neither allows computation without decryption.
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
✓
Homomorphic encryption
Homomorphic encryption allows computations to be performed directly on ciphertext, producing an encrypted result that, when decrypted, matches the result of operations performed on the plaintext. This enables the healthcare organization to run analytics on encrypted patient data without ever exposing the underlying sensitive information, thus preserving privacy throughout the processing lifecycle.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Homomorphic encryption
Why this is correct
Allows computation on encrypted data without decryption.
- ✗
Tokenization
Why it's wrong here
Tokenization does not support computation on tokens.
- ✗
Format-preserving encryption (FPE)
Why it's wrong here
FPE is not designed for computation.
- ✗
Cryptographic hashing
Why it's wrong here
Hashing is one-way; cannot perform analytics that require recomputation.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.