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| SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. What
this means in plain
language is that when
a Internet Browser
connects to a server
connected to the internet
the transfer of data
between the browser
and the server is
encrypted. The data
is encrypted so no
one who is possibly
intercepting the data
transfer between the
two can read it. So
while a person can
intercept the data
transfer they won't
be able to read the
data because it will
be gibberish to them. |
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| To
use SSL there must
be several requirements
met first. The first
requirment is that
the Internet Browser
be cabable of handling
SSL communications.
This generally isn't
a problem with most
of the commercially
available browsers
nowdays. The second
requirement is that
the server must be
set up with a certificate
which allows SSL communications.
This SSL certificate
is set up by the web
site owner. SSL encryption
comes in two versions
56-bit encryption
and 128-bit encryption.
The higher the number
the better the encryption. |
|
| So
where can you get
a SSL certificate
for a web site? You
can get them in several
places. First, the
web site can just
create their own certificate.
There is nothing wrong
with doing so, but
in doing so when a
person visits the
web site the visitor
might get a warning
that the certificate
isn't trusted. This
is because the person
just created it and
did not go through
one of the commercial
entities providing
certificates, which
are considered trusted.
If a web site owner
gets the certificate
from a commercial
entity (for a cost
of course) these entities
will verify the site
owner and the warning
will not generally
appear. |
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| To
use the SSL encryption
the person visiting
the website must use
the "https"
protocol. Normally,
if you look at a web
site address you will
see the address as
"http".
At the front of the
address is http. If
we were to use encryption
for a web page we
would use the https
instead of https.
The "s"
stands for secure.
It is only when you
use https you know
the web page you are
viewing is encrypted
with SSL. With some
browsers you might
see a gold lock on
the bottom of the
browser indicating
that the browser is
viewing a SSL encrypted
page. However, the
absence of a gold
lock or the presence
of the gold lock DOES
NOT absolutely mean
that the page is SSL
encrypted. ONLY if
the address starts
with https can you
be sure of the encryption.
This is because sometimes
there are items written
in the web page which
indicate to the browser
that the page isn't
encrypted when in
fact it is. |
|
| SSL
encryption is used
primarily for e-commerce
applications. While
not all communications
between a browser
and server are intercepted
you never want to
take a chance when
you are submitting
to a web site information
concerning your credit
card, home address
information and/or
any personal information.
Without SSL encryption
every time you ordered
something online you
might be giving out
your credit card number
to a thief. Without
SSL encryption there
would be no e-commerce.
A common question
is that if a site
uses SSL encryption
is the information
safe when data arrives
at the server? No.
SSL encryption only
makes the data transfer
difficult to read.
Once the data arrives
either at the browser
or at the server it
is no longer encrypted.
That's why there are
firewalls and other
items used to protect
servers and computers
attached to the internet.
Protecting information
on the net relies
on several things
and SSL encryption
works only on the
flow of information
not the storage of
information. |
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