UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Statements A, B and C accurately summarise core ideas of cryptography, encryption and decryption. They show how information is transformed and restored using algorithms and keys. Statement D is dangerously false because private keys must be kept secret; sharing them openly destroys security. Thus, the correct answer is the combination A, B and C only.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it lists only A and B as correct, leaving out C. Statement C is also correct, since decryption reverses encryption to recover plaintext. Excluding C gives an incomplete picture of the cryptographic process.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it groups A, C and D as correct, thereby accepting D. Statement D contradicts the requirement to keep private keys secret and would compromise secure communication.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it recognises that protecting, encrypting and decrypting data are the three linked components specified in A, B and C. It excludes the unsafe recommendation in D.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it includes B, C and D only, omitting A and accepting D. This both weakens the conceptual definition and endorses insecure behaviour.

Decryption applies a cryptographic key and algorithm to ciphertext to retrieve the original plaintext. It is the necessary counterpart of encryption in secure communication systems. Without decryption, authorised users could not read protected information. Thus, the process is called decryption.

Option A:
Option A is correct because decryption precisely denotes reversing encryption to recover the original data.

Option B:
Option B, encryption, is the forward process of encoding data and does not describe restoration to readable form.

Option C:
Option C, hashing, produces fixed length digests for integrity checking but is generally one way and not used to recover original data.

Option D:
Option D, scanning, may refer to searching or virus checking and is not related to cryptographic reversal.