Overview of SSL

Definition

The SSL protocol guards information privacy on the Internet. SSL can prevent data transmitted between the client and server from being obtained or tampered with, and authenticate the identities of two communicating parties, ensuring secure data transmission.

Purpose

World Wide Web (WWW)-based applications such as e-commerce and online banking have infiltrated daily life. These applications require online transactions over the Internet, posing higher security requirements for network communication. The traditional WWW protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), cannot meet security requirements of these applications. HTTP transfers data as plain text, does not verify the identities of two communicating parties, and cannot prevent data tampering. Netscape has developed the security protocol SSL to implement data encryption, counterparty identity authentication, and message integrity check, ensuring secure data transmission on networks. In addition, SSL provides secure connections for HTTP to improve WWW security.

Although designed for improving WWW security, SSL can secure data transmission for all TCP-based application protocols because it functions between the application layer and the transport layer.