CompTIA ITF+ Practice Test 2025 - Free CompTIA ITF+ Practice Questions and Study Guide

The protocol commonly used for secure communication over a computer network is SSH, which stands for Secure Shell. SSH is designed to provide a secure channel over an unsecured network by encrypting the data transmitted between a client and a server. This encryption helps protect sensitive information from eavesdroppers and various types of attacks, allowing for safe remote logins, command execution, and file transfers.

SSH is particularly important for administrative tasks on remote systems where security is paramount. It ensures that the commands issued and the responses received are visible only to the intended parties, maintaining confidentiality and integrity.

In contrast, the other protocols mentioned—FTP, HTTP, and IMAP—do not inherently provide secure transmissions. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) transmit data in plain text, making them vulnerable to interception and unauthorized access. Although secure versions exist, such as FTPS (FTP Secure) and HTTPS (HTTP over SSL/TLS), these are not what is commonly identified with the base protocols. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), which is used for email retrieval, also lacks inherent security without additional layers like SSL/TLS.

Therefore, SSH stands out as the protocol specifically focused on secure network communication.