Which of the following is a cryptographic protocol that allows two parties to establish a shared key over an insecure channel?

Study for the EC-Council Certified Encryption Specialist Test. Prepare with flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each question includes hints and detailed explanations. Excel in your exam!

The correct answer is Diffie-Hellman, as it is specifically designed for secure key exchange over an insecure communication channel. The Diffie-Hellman key exchange enables two parties to generate a shared secret that can be used as a key for subsequent encryption, without the need to transmit the key itself over the channel.

This protocol works by allowing each party to generate a public-private key pair, share their public keys, and then compute the shared key from their own private key and the other party's public key. Since the exchange does not send the actual key, it remains secure even if an eavesdropper is present on the channel.

In contrast, the other options mentioned do not serve the purpose of establishing a shared key in the same way. For example, while RSA is a widely recognized public key cryptographic algorithm that can be used for encrypting messages or signing data, it is not primarily a key exchange protocol like Diffie-Hellman. MD5, on the other hand, is a cryptographic hash function used for integrity verification, and elliptic curve cryptography provides methods for encryption, authentication, and generating public keys but does not directly facilitate a secure key exchange on its own without additional protocols.

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