All about SSL

SSL or Secure Sockets Layer (Notice the last s in sockets) is used to secure the communication over the internet. This technique was introduced by Netscape. It uses the RSA public key cryptography for encryption/decryption.

In the protocol stack used in the internet. The SSL protocol runs above TCP/IP and below higher-level protocols such as HTTP or IMAP.

The SSL protocol includes two sub-protocols:
1) SSL record protocol
2) SSL handshake protocol

The SSL record protocol defines the format used to transmit data. The SSL handshake protocol involves using the SSL record protocol to exchange a series of messages between an SSL-enabled server and an SSL-enabled client when they first establish an SSL connection.

Now SSL for the layman
SSL basically creates an encrypted communication channel between the two parties involved in the communication. For a third person involved in the middle of this communication channel, the data seems to be garbled. (Read the rest of this entry…)