What method is commonly used to secure sensitive information during data transmission?

Encryption is a fundamental method employed to protect sensitive information during data transmission. It works by converting the original data into a coded format that can only be deciphered by those who possess the correct decryption key. This process ensures that, even if the data is intercepted during transmission, unauthorized parties cannot read or access the information without the decryption key, thus safeguarding the confidentiality of the data.

Compression, while useful for reducing the size of data, does not inherently secure the information; it simply decreases the amount of bandwidth used during transmission. Hashing is primarily utilized for data integrity verification rather than securing data during transmission since it produces a fixed-size string that represents the original data and cannot be reversed. Encoding transforms data for compatibility across different systems but does not inherently provide security. Thus, encryption stands out as the standard method for securing sensitive information during data transmission.