https & SSL

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Https: What it is and how it works

What is HTTPS?

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (http). HTTPS allows secure ecommerce transactions, such as online banking.

Web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox display a padlock icon to indicate that the website is secure, as it also displays https:// in the address bar.

When a user connects to a website via HTTPS, the website encrypts the session with a digital certificate. A user can tell if they are connected to a secure website if the website URL begins with https:// instead of http://.

Want to know more?  earn more about How to use SSL with Comodo's SSL Tutorials. 
For a simple introduction to HTTPS, see What is HTTPS?

How Does SSL Work?

Secure Sockets Layer uses a cryptographic system that encrypts data with two keys.

When a SSL Digital Certificate is installed on a web site, users can see a padlock icon at the bottom area of the navigator. When an Extended Validation Certificates is installed on a web site, users with the latest versions of Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera will see the green address bar at the URL area of the navigator.

Users on sites with SSL Certificates will also see https:// in the address bar during an ecommerce transaction.

Why Is A SSL Certificate Required?

With booming Internet trends and fraud, most will not submit their private details on the web unless they know that the information they provide is securely transmitted and not accessible for anyone to view.

Want to know more?      Learn more about How to use SSL with Comodo's SSL Tutorials.

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What Is Https

HTTP and HTTPS: What do they do, and how are they different?

You click to check out at an online merchant. Suddenly your browser address bar says HTTPSinstead of HTTP. What's going on? Is your credit card information safe?

Good news. Your information is safe. The website you are working with has made sure that no one can steal your information.

Instead of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), this website uses HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).

Using HTTPS, the computers agree on a "code" between them, and then they scramble the messages using that "code" so that no one in between can read them. This keeps your information safe from hackers.

They use the "code" on a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), sometimes called Transport Layer Security (TLS) to send the information back and forth.

How does HTTP work? How is HTTPS different from HTTP? This tutorial will teach you about SSL, HTTP and HTTPS.

How Does HTTP Work?

In the beginning, network administrators had to figure out how to share the information they put out on the Internet.

They agreed on a procedure for exchanging information and called it HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Once everyone knew how to exchange information, intercepting on the Internet was not difficult. So knowledgeable administrators agreed upon a procedure to protect the information they exchanged. The protection relies on SSL certificates to encrypt the online data. Encryption means that the sender and recipient agree upon a "code" and translate their documents into random-looking character strings.

The procedure for encrypting information and then exchanging it is called HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).

With HTTPS if anyone in between the sender and the recipient could open the message, they still could not understand it. Only the sender and the recipient, who know the "code," can decipher the message.

Humans could encode their own documents, but computers do it faster and more efficiently. To do this, the computer at each end uses a document called an "SSL certificate" containing character strings that are the keys to their secret "codes."

SSL certificates contain the computer owner's "public key."

The owner shares the public key with anyone who needs it. Other users need the public key to encrypt messages to the owner. The owner sends those users the SSL certificate, which contains the public key. The owner does not share the private key with anyone.

The security during the transfer is called the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS).

The procedure for exchanging public keys using SSL certificates to enable HTTPS, SSL and TLS is called Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).