In SSL/TLS, a ________ is a specific set of security methods and options.

• A. Cryptographic System Standard
• B. Cipher Suite
• C. Chosen Set
• D. Tuple

Answer: (B)

A cipher suite is a specific collection of security methods and options that TLS uses for a session. It defines the exact algorithms the protocol will use for key exchange, authentication, encryption, and data integrity. In practice, a cipher suite names the key exchange method (how the shared secret is established), who authenticates the connection, the symmetric cipher and its mode (how data is encrypted), and the hash or MAC/PRF used for integrity. For example, a suite like TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 indicates: Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral for key exchange, RSA for authentication, AES-128 in GCM mode for encryption, and SHA-256 for integrity. This bundle is negotiated during the TLS handshake so both parties operate with the same security parameters. Other terms don’t refer to this bundled set of algorithms and options.