GIAC Exam GSNA Topic 4 Question 54 Discussion

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol used to transmit private documents via the Internet. SSL uses a combination of public key and

symmetric encryption to provide communication privacy, authentication, and message integrity. Using the SSL protocol, clients and servers can

communicate in a way that prevents eavesdropping and tampering of data on the Internet. Many Web sites use the SSL 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:. By default, SSL uses port 443 for secured communication.

For a SSL connection between a Web browser and Web server, you must enter https, for example, 'https://www.vzen.com', instead of http

as the protocol type in the URL. This will instruct the Web browser to use a different port for communication. SSL uses TCP port 443 for

communication.