What advanced authentication protocol should Flora implement for network security?

Implementing Kerberos/IPSec as an advanced authentication protocol is an effective choice for enhancing network security. Kerberos is a network authentication protocol that uses secret-key cryptography to provide strong authentication for client-server applications. It enables secure authentication over an insecure network, relying on a trusted third party (the Key Distribution Center) to facilitate secure communication.

Using Kerberos helps in preventing unauthorized access by allowing only verified users and systems to communicate, thus protecting sensitive data and resources from potential intruders. Additionally, when used in combination with IPsec, which is a suite of protocols designed to secure Internet Protocol (IP) communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet in a communication session, it further enhances the protection of data in transit.

The combination of Kerberos for authentication and IPsec for securing the communication channel ensures that both identity verification and data security measures are robust, making it suitable for organizational and enterprise-level security needs.

In contrast, other options do not provide the same level of advanced authentication and security features. For instance, FTP/HTTP is more focused on file transfer and web communication and does not include sophisticated authentication protocols. Similarly, ICMP and UDP are networking protocols without built-in security measures for authentication. TCP/IP is a foundational protocol suite