What role does encryption play in network security?

Encryption plays a crucial role in network security by ensuring data confidentiality. When data is encrypted, it is transformed into a secure format that can only be read by someone who possesses the appropriate decryption key. This means that even if unauthorized individuals intercept the data during transmission, they would only see a scrambled format that is unreadable without the key.

By protecting the confidentiality of sensitive information, such as personal details, financial data, and corporate secrets, encryption helps to safeguard user privacy and maintain trust in communications and transactions over the network. This aspect of encryption is vital for compliance with data protection regulations, which require organizations to take appropriate measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.

While other options refer to various aspects of network security, they do not address the primary function of encryption. For instance, network speed and performance can actually be impacted negatively by encryption due to the processing overhead involved in encrypting and decrypting data. User authentication is a different mechanism that involves verifying identities, typically through usernames and passwords, rather than encrypting data itself. Lastly, while encryption helps protect data in transit, it does not prevent data loss; it serves more to secure the data rather than ensure its delivery or integrity during transmission.