Which statement about encryption is NOT correct?

• A. It compresses data to save space.
• B. It makes data readable by everyone.
• C. It streams data in real-time without protections.
• D. It encodes data so that only authorized parties can read it, protecting confidentiality and integrity.

Answer: (D)

Encryption primarily aims to protect confidentiality by turning plaintext into ciphertext that only authorized parties can decipher. It keeps data unreadable to anyone without the key. However, integrity—knowing that the data hasn’t been altered—requires additional protections such as a message authentication code or an authenticated encryption mode. So saying encryption protects both confidentiality and integrity is not universally correct; integrity isn’t guaranteed by encryption alone and depends on using authenticated modes or separate integrity checks. The other statements describe aspects that aren’t properties of encryption—compression is a separate process, encryption doesn’t make data readable by everyone, and streaming without protections ignores the protective role encryption can provide when paired with proper integrity measures.