Which protocol is almost always used to protect VPN transmissions during online purchases?

• A. SSL/TLS
• B. IPsec
• C. Both SSL/TLS and IPsec
• D. Neither SSL/TLS nor IPsec

Answer: (A)

TLS (often referred to as SSL/TLS) is what secures most online shopping sessions. When you visit a merchant's site and see the HTTPS URL, TLS is performing the encryption, ensuring that data such as credit card numbers, login credentials, and order details are confidential and have integrity in transit. This end-to-end protection between your browser and the merchant’s server is why online purchases rely on TLS. IPsec, on the other hand, protects network-layer VPN connections—between networks or for remote access—not the typical web session you have with an e-commerce site. It’s used for different scenarios ( VPN tunnels rather than individual HTTPS sessions ), so TLS is almost always the protocol employed for protecting online shopping transmissions.