Which statement best contrasts data at rest with data in transit?

Which statement best contrasts data at rest with data in transit?

• A. Data at rest refers to data stored on media, while data in transit refers to data moving across a network.
• B. Data at rest is encrypted, while data in transit is not.
• C. Data in transit is backups only.
• D. Data at rest cannot be encrypted.

Answer: (A)

Data at rest vs data in transit is about where the data lives versus how it moves. Data at rest is information stored on physical media like hard drives, SSDs, or backups. Data in transit is information moving across a network or between devices, such as packets traveling over Ethernet or the internet. The best statement captures this distinction by describing data at rest as stored on media and data in transit as data moving across a network. The other options misstate the reality: encryption can apply to both states, so it’s not universal to one and not the other; data in transit isn’t limited to backups; and data at rest can be encrypted. In practice, you protect both states—disk encryption for data at rest and protocols like TLS for data in transit.

Data at rest vs data in transit is about where the data lives versus how it moves. Data at rest is information stored on physical media like hard drives, SSDs, or backups. Data in transit is information moving across a network or between devices, such as packets traveling over Ethernet or the internet. The best statement captures this distinction by describing data at rest as stored on media and data in transit as data moving across a network.

The other options misstate the reality: encryption can apply to both states, so it’s not universal to one and not the other; data in transit isn’t limited to backups; and data at rest can be encrypted. In practice, you protect both states—disk encryption for data at rest and protocols like TLS for data in transit.