How SSL can protect

In today’s world, web security is a matter close to many people’s hearts. In a connected world, people want the option to do just about anything online, and that can often involve the exchange of sensitive information such as bank details. Web users need to be able to do this with confidence, knowing that the connection they are using is secure.

The industry standard when it comes to secure connections online is SSL. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and refers to the technology which encrypts data as it travels between a web browser and a web server. Here, we look in a little more detail at the question of what is SSL and how SSL can protect.

Understanding vulnerabilities

In order to learn how SSL can protect web users, it’s important to understand where their vulnerabilities come about. When we are dealing with secure information online, what’s important to us is that it doesn’t fall into the hands of anyone we’d not intended to share it with. There are two ways for this to happen. First of all, criminals could be intercepting the information as it is relayed between the browser and the server. Second, criminals could be posing as a legitimate site or business, tricking web users into sending sensitive information directly to them.

How SSL combats these vulnerabilities

The problem of intercepted data can be overcome by encryption. When an SSL check is performed, it ensures that all of the data is encrypted between A and B. This means that, in the event that a criminal should intercept the data en route, they will not be able to read it or make any sense of it.

The second problem can be solved by the issuing of an SSL certificate. Independent SSL companies can not only check the security of a connection, but they can verify the identity of the person at the other end of that connection.

SSL is thus able to protect web users who are looking to communicate sensitive information across the internet. By making an SSL certificate publicly available, the web becomes a far more open and secure place. Not only can web users know that their connection is secure, but they can also be confident that they are dealing with an honest website.