In the lesson's hybrid process, which key encrypts the symmetric file key for the recipient?

### Why this is right The lesson instructs the sender to encrypt the symmetric key with the recipient’s public key. The recipient can then recover that key with the corresponding private key. ### The concept Hybrid encryption separates the job of encrypting a large file from the job of protecting the file key. A symmetric key encrypts the file. The public key encrypts that symmetric key, and the recipient’s private key decrypts it. Once recovered, the symmetric key decrypts the file. This allows the sender to send both the encrypted file and the encrypted key. ### The other options - **B. The recipient's private key**: used by the recipient to decrypt the protected key, not by the sender to encrypt it. - **C. The sender's shared AES key**: the file key itself is used for symmetric file encryption, not for encrypting itself in the described process. - **D. The OpenSSL version number**: identifies software version information and is not an encryption key. ### Terms - **AES**: Advanced Encryption Standard, the symmetric algorithm named in the lesson’s file-encryption command. - **Public key**: The recipient’s shareable key used to encrypt the symmetric key. - **Private key**: The recipient’s secret key used to recover it. ### Remember In the lesson’s hybrid example, public key locks the file key and private key unlocks it.