Which of the following protocols is used for secure communication over the…

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, which is the standard protocol used to establish secure communication over a computer network. It encrypts data transmitted between a user's browser and the server using SSL/TLS protocols, ensuring that sensitive information like passwords or credit card details cannot be intercepted by malicious actors. This encryption is the key feature that distinguishes it from standard HTTP, which transmits data in plain text and is vulnerable to eavesdropping. While FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) are used for file transfers and email respectively, they lack inherent encryption unless specifically configured with secure variants like FTPS or SMTPS. Therefore, HTTPS is the correct choice for ensuring confidentiality and integrity during internet communication.