What is a SSL (secure sockets layer)?
SearchSecurity, Friday, May 3rd, 2024
Secure sockets layer (SSL) is a networking protocol designed for securing connections between web clients and web servers over an insecure network, such as the internet.
Netscape formally introduced the SSL protocol in 1995, making it the first widely used protocol for securing online transactions between consumers and businesses. It eventually came to be used to secure authentication and encryption for other applications at the network transport layer.
SSL suffered from numerous problems, and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) stopped recommending its use in 2015. It was replaced by the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. While SSL is still in use today, mostly in legacy systems, TLS has taken over its role in securing internet connections.