For secure web access to personal records from smartphones, what protocol is commonly used for in-flight encryption?

The correct choice for secure web access to personal records from smartphones through in-flight encryption is TLS (Transport Layer Security). TLS is a widely adopted cryptographic protocol designed to provide secure communication over a computer network. It ensures that data transmitted between a client (such as a smartphone) and a server is encrypted, maintaining confidentiality and protecting against eavesdropping or interception.

When accessing personal records via a web application, TLS secures the data in transit, which is crucial given the sensitivity of personal information. It works by establishing a secure connection through a handshake process that involves authentication and encryption of the communication channel. This is particularly important in scenarios where users are accessing services over public or unsecured networks, such as those often used by smartphones.

In contrast, other protocols mentioned serve different purposes. For example, MD5 is a hashing algorithm that is not suitable for in-flight encryption because it’s primarily designed for data integrity checks rather than securing data during transmission. IPsec is mainly used for securing Internet Protocol (IP) communications by encrypting and authenticating packets, but it is not commonly employed for the specific use case of web traffic encryption in the context of smartphones. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can provide secure remote access and encompass various encryption protocols, including