What is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)?

Posted: 26.9.1999 13.55.23 (EET/GMT+2)

If you need to protect web traffic between a browser and a server, the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol provides encrypted communication over the network.

SSL is commonly used together with HTTP to create secure HTTPS connections.

Instead of using the standard HTTP port 80, HTTPS by default runs on port 443. Let's look at this URL:

https://server/

When a browser connects using SSL ("HTTP + S"), the server presents a certificate that identifies the site.

The browser and server then negotiate encryption settings and establish a secure session.

SSL helps protect:

passwords
credit card information
authentication cookies
private application data.

On IIS, certificates can be installed through the web site properties dialog.

After SSL is enabled, traffic between the client and server is encrypted before being transmitted over the network.