What is SSL?
(Pronounced as separate letters.) Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a
protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the
Internet. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt
data - a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known
only to the recipient of the message. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet
Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain
confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention,
URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:.
Web Reference
August 18, 2005
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