SSL is an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer. The Secure Sockets Layer is a basically a web security protocol that is developed to establish a secure connection between web server and a browser. SSL is an IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) approved industry standard for Ecommerce websites or any websites that deals with the exchange of personal account details of the user.
SSL certificate are issued by a Certificate Authority. Whenever the browser connects with the SSL server, the server asks for the digital certificate of authority. The SSL certificate is authenticated by the servers identity and hence, the transmission of any private data such as user name, password, and credit card details and so on are secured. This is done by the encryption of the data. SSL encryption has two keys for encrypting the personal data. One is the public key which is meant for encrypting information and the second one is a private key that is required for decoding the encryption. This private key is held only by the seller of the online products.
Here is the step by step procedure of SSL certificate works ensuring you a secured online transmission of the personal details.
* Browser demands for a secure page. This is denoted by thes in the URL https://.
* The web server sends the authorized SSL certificate along with the public key to the browser.
* The browser goes through the certificate and looks for its validity and its authentication. It also checks that the certificate belongs to that particular site.
* The browser then makes use of the public key that is provided along with the certificate. The personal data entered by the user is then encrypted in a random symmetric encryption key. This encrypted key is sent to the server that bears the encrypted URL.
* The web server receives this encrypted key and deciphers it through the usage of the private key.
Thus, the encryption of the personal details makes it impossible for anyone to hack or change it while en route from the users server to the dealers server. There are many kinds of SSL certificates available in the market, but 128 bit SSL certificates best SSL encryption.