Definition for Secure Socket Layer

Secure Socket Layer: Secure Socket Layer, most widely known or referred to as SSL, is a protocol for transmitting sensitive information across the internet between two machines. This is normally used on client connections when transmitting certain information that you would not transmitted in an insecure fashion, such as credit card numbers and login and password text. It is also widely used in direct server to server communications such as e-Commerce transactions. By convention, modern browsers will display a lock icon on the status bar at the bottom of their window to show that the browser is in secure communications mode. Additionally, a secure URL uses the HTTPS: protocol specifier as opposed to the HTTP: protocol specifier that is more commonly used for non-encrypted web connections.

Glossary