Which encoding is used for HTTP Basic (username:password) authentication in RESTful APIs?

HTTP Basic authentication uses Base64 encoding to transmit the username and password. The credentials are concatenated as username:password and then Base64 encoded. This encoding scheme is not encryption; it merely obfuscates the data, making it unsuitable for protecting sensitive information without an underlying secure transport like HTTPS. MD5 and SHA-1 are cryptographic hash functions used for integrity checks or password storage, not for encoding credentials for transmission. Type-7 is a Cisco proprietary password encryption type, not used for HTTP authentication.