If the hardening guidelines allow only encrypted management interfaces, which port should be disabled from an nmap scan showing ports 22, 80, and 443?

The correct choice is to disable port 80 from the list of open ports. Port 80 is typically used for HTTP traffic, which is not encrypted. In environments where hardening guidelines specifically mandate the use of encrypted management interfaces, disabling port 80 aligns with the goal of ensuring that all management communications are secure.

By enforcing encryption, the management interfaces can use protocols such as HTTPS (which operates over port 443) or SSH (which operates over port 22). Both of these protocols provide encrypted communication channels, thereby protecting data from potential eavesdropping or tampering.

Port 22 (SSH) and port 443 (HTTPS) are both secure protocols that meet the requirement for encrypted management interfaces. Therefore, keeping them enabled is consistent with the hardening guidelines. Disabling port 80 enhances security by preventing unencrypted data transmission, which could expose sensitive information during management activities.