Which of the following is best used to protect sensitive data during transmission?

Encryption is the best method for protecting sensitive data during transmission because it involves converting the data into a format that is unreadable to anyone who does not have the appropriate decryption key. This ensures that even if the data is intercepted during transmission, it remains secure and confidential, as unauthorized parties cannot interpret or access the information contained within the encrypted data.

When data is sent in plain text, it is easily readable by anyone who intercepts it, making it highly vulnerable to eavesdropping and data breaches. File compression may reduce the size of the data being transmitted, but it does not provide any security against unauthorized access. Cloud storage, while useful for storing data, does not inherently protect data during transmission unless additional security measures like encryption are applied. Therefore, encryption is the most effective method for safeguarding sensitive data during its journey across networks.