Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol, or set of rules, that dictates how two computer systems should exchange messages. It ensures that these messages are exchanged securely by using a technique called cryptography. By using this technique, the two computers can verify that they are talking to the correct computer and not a pretender. Also, the transmission is kept private between the two computers. SSL and its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), were developed by Netscape and the Internet Engineering Task Force respectively in the 1990’s.

SSL is used for securing communication on the World Wide Web (WWW). If you use your Web browser to log in to your bank account, you are probably using SSL to protect the communication between your computer and the bank’s computer. You can tell if you are using SSL in two ways: by checking for a little lock icon in the browser window and by checking if the Internet address starts with “https://” instead of the regular “http://”.

If you double-click on the lock icon, you may be able to verify the digital certificate (see the picture below) and make sure that the communication is encrypted.