Which statement accurately describes the IP routing process?

The accurate statement regarding the IP routing process is that the destination and source MAC addresses change at each hop. In a typical IP routing scenario, when a data packet travels from its source to its destination, it goes through multiple devices, often including switches and routers.

At each hop along the way, the packet is encapsulated within a link-layer frame appropriate for the network technology being used (e.g., Ethernet). This means that the source MAC address will be that of the device sending the packet on that particular hop, while the destination MAC address will be that of the device the packet is being sent to on that hop.

As a result, the source and destination MAC addresses are specific to the local network segment between two devices. When the packet is forwarded to another network segment, these MAC addresses will change to reflect the new sender and receiver on that segment.

In contrast, the destination IP address is meant to remain constant throughout the journey from source to destination, ensuring that the packet reaches the correct final destination regardless of the number of hops it undertakes. Other choices, such as the encryption of IP addresses during routing, do not accurately reflect the behavior of standard IP packet forwarding.