Cisco ENCOR Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Enterprise Network Core Technologies!

The primary functions that the Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) offers in network security include both authentication and confidentiality, making it an essential protocol in the context of securing data traffic over IP networks.

Confidentiality is achieved through encryption, which ensures that the data being sent across the network is protected from unauthorized access. This means that even if data packets are intercepted during transmission, the contents remain unreadable to anyone who lacks the proper decryption key. This feature is crucial for maintaining privacy and securing sensitive information.

Authentication, on the other hand, provides a way to verify the identity of the communicating parties. By including authentication headers, along with the ESP, it ensures that the data comes from a legitimate source and has not been altered during transit. This is significant in preventing various attacks, such as replay attacks, where an unauthorized user tries to resend captured packets.

Together, these functions provided by ESP enable secure communication over potentially unsafe networks, as they enable both the protection of data content and verification of the sender’s identity. Thus, selecting the option that identifies both authentication and confidentiality accurately reflects the comprehensive security capabilities of ESP in network security protocols.