Which clue most strongly suggests you should inspect the cipher suite configuration on an SSL-based virtual server?

• A. The server returns 404 Not Found
• B. The TLS handshake completes with no error
• C. Packets show plaintext data in captures
• D. The DNS query fails

Answer: (C)

Starting with the core idea: SSL/TLS is about keeping data confidential by encrypting the traffic between client and server. If you’re seeing readable, plaintext data in captures, the traffic isn’t being encrypted as expected. That strongly points to a misconfiguration around the SSL setup, including the cipher suite configuration on the SSL-based virtual server. The cipher suite determines which encryption algorithms are offered and used during the TLS negotiation; if the suite isn’t configured correctly, or if there’s a mismatch between client and server capabilities, encryption can fail or be bypassed, leaving the data readable in transit. In practice, this is a primary indicator that you should inspect the cipher suite settings, the SSL profile bindings, and how TLS termination is handled on the virtual server to ensure the traffic from client to ADC (and onward, if applicable) is properly encrypted.

The other clues don’t fit as well. A standard 404 response is about resource availability, not encryption. A TLS handshake completing with no error suggests negotiation succeeded and encryption would be in place, so it doesn’t signal a cipher suite problem. DNS query failure is about name resolution and has no direct bearing on SSL/TLS encryption.