SSL - ( Secure Sockets Layer )
The industry-standard method for protecting web communications
. The SSL security protocol provides data encryption, server
authentication, message integrity, and optional client
authentication for a TCP/IP connection. Because SSL is built into
all major browsers and web servers, simply installing a digital
certificate turns on their SSL capabilities.
SSL certificates protect information between web browsers (Internet
Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, etc) and the webserver by using 128-bit
encryption. 128-bit refers to the length of the "session key"
generated by every encrypted transaction. The longer the key, the
more difficult it is to break the encryption code.
When your customer enters a secure webpage, address beginning
https://, their web browser requests a secure channel from the
server, if the server has a certificate the browser and the server
negotiate their highest common encryption strength (all our
certificates are provided at 128-bits), and then exchange the
corresponding encryption keys (this exchange is normally done using
1024-bit encryption strength).
The 128-bit encryption key is then used for this particular instance
of SSL, for all 'from-to' exchanges between the browser and the
server guaranteeing the security of the connection. The next
customer accessing a secure webpage will have a new session key.
