When encrypting data, two fundamental drivers of cryptographic strength are the algorithm you choose and the key length you use (which affects brute-force feasibility and overall security margin). The Study Guide emphasizes algorithm selection as a best practice: “First, choose your encryption system wisely… Choose an encryption system with an algorithm in the public domain that has been thoroughly vetted by industry experts.” It then highlights key selection/size as another central decision: “You must also select your keys in an appropriate manner. Use a key length that balances your security requirements with performance considerations.”

These two choices directly affect whether encryption meaningfully protects confidentiality. By contrast, obfuscation, masking, and tokenization are different data-protection techniques (often used to reduce exposure or de-identify data) rather than core encryption-strength parameters. Salting is primarily associated with strengthening password hashing (defending against rainbow table attacks), not selecting encryption primitives/strength for general data encryption. Therefore, the best two considerations in the context of encryption itself are Algorithms and Key length.