Is using public key encryption to process credit card payments secure?

Public key encryption is considered secure for processing credit card payments primarily because it relies on computationally hard problems, such as factoring large prime numbers or solving discrete logarithms, which are challenging for current computers to solve efficiently. This inherent difficulty in breaking the encryption ensures that even if someone intercepts the encrypted data, they would find it exceedingly difficult to decrypt the information without the appropriate private key.

In the context of credit card transactions, when a user submits their credit card information, this data can be encrypted using the recipient's public key. Only the recipient possesses the corresponding private key to decrypt and access the original information. This creates a secure communication channel over the internet, safeguarding sensitive data like credit card details from potential interception.

The other options contain misunderstandings about how encryption works or about general internet security protocols. They incorrectly suggest vulnerabilities that do not apply to well-implemented public key encryption systems, which is why option C stands out as the correct choice in affirming the security of using public key encryption for credit card payments.