What is Data in Transit?

Data in transit refers to data actively moving between systems, such as between a client and server or between distributed services.

Because it travels across networks, transit data can be intercepted, modified, or accessed by unauthorized parties if not properly encrypted.

By using secure communication protocols such as transport layer security, or TLS, which encrypts data before transmission and decrypts it at the intended destination.

TLS with strong cipher suites, asymmetric encryption for key exchange and symmetric encryption for session data are the most common methods.

Encryption in transit protects data while it moves across networks. Encryption at rest protects stored data. Encryption in use protects data while it is actively processed in memory.

MongoDB uses TLS to encrypt connections between clients and servers and between cluster nodes. In MongoDB Atlas, this is enabled by default. Additional capabilities such as client-side field level encryption and queryable encryption extend protection across the full data lifecycle.

No. Organizations must protect data in transit, data at rest, and data in use. A comprehensive data security strategy addresses all three states.