Security Analyst Incident Response Practice Test

The protocol that enables secure remote access is SSH, or Secure Shell. SSH is specifically designed for secure communication over an unsecured network. It uses cryptographic techniques to provide confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data, making it a robust choice for remote login and command execution on various systems. This protocol encrypts the transport layer, unlike other options, which can transmit data in plain text, leaving it vulnerable to interception during transmission.

In contrast, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and Telnet are designed for data transfer and remote command execution, respectively, but they lack encryption, exposing users to significant security risks such as eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), while commonly used for web traffic, also does not provide a secure channel by itself. The secure version, HTTPS, employs encryption, but it is not tailored for remote command execution as SSH is. Thus, SSH is the clear choice for enabling secure remote access due to its comprehensive security features.