Secure Sockets Layer - technical definition

A network protocol running on top of TCP/IP that assists in improving the safety of Internet communications and serves as a standard for encrypted client/server communications between network devices. SSL and S-HTTP have uniquely different designs and goals, so it is actually possible to put together the two protocols. Whereas SSL has been developed to create a secure connection between two systems, S-HTTP has been developed to securely transmit individual messages. SSL uses different kinds of network security techniques, such as certificates, public keys, and symmetric keys.Websites typically use SSL to safeguard the transmission of an individualsÂ’ personal information such as banking account numbers and credit card numbers. Moreover, both SSL and S-HTTP have been sent to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to be approved as a standard.

See Also: HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol); Internet; Internet Engineering Task Force IETF); TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol; World Wide Web (WWW).