An organization is leveraging a VPN between its headquarters and a branch location. Which of the following is the VPN protecting?

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) establishes a secure, encrypted tunnel over an untrusted network, like the internet. When data travels between the headquarters and a branch location through this VPN tunnel, it is being protected while it is actively moving across the network. This state is known as "data in transit." The VPN encrypts the data before it leaves the source and decrypts it upon arrival at the destination, safeguarding its confidentiality and integrity during transmission. "Data in use" refers to data actively being processed by a CPU or in RAM, which a VPN does not directly protect. "Geographic restrictions" and "data sovereignty" relate to legal and regulatory aspects of data location and control, which a VPN can sometimes help address by masking origin, but its primary security function is not these concepts themselves.