Which of the following concepts is aligned with the protection of data in transit?

The concept most aligned with the protection of data in transit is the use of encryption protocols. Encryption protocols are designed to secure data as it travels across networks, ensuring that unauthorized individuals cannot read or modify the data during transmission. This is crucial in maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information, particularly over potentially insecure mediums like the internet.

While data retention policies, data masking techniques, and data classification frameworks are important aspects of data security, they primarily focus on other dimensions. Data retention policies address how long data should be kept or deleted, data masking techniques modify visible data to protect sensitive information, and data classification frameworks categorize data based on its sensitivity. None of these specifically focus on securing data while it is being transmitted from one point to another, which is why encryption protocols are the key element in this context.