What is SSL?

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol used to keep internet connections secure and safeguard any sensitive data being sent between two systems. SSL prevents cybercriminals from reading and modifying any transferred information, including potential personal details.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) is just an updated, more secure, version of SSL.

How does SSL work?

SSL makes sure that any data transferred between users and sites, or between two systems, remains impossible to read. It uses encryption algorithms to scramble data in transit, which prevents hackers from reading it as it is sent over the connection. This information could be anything sensitive or personal, i.e., credit card numbers, other financial information, names, and addresses.

SSL also digitally signs data in order to provide data integrity and verify that the data is not tampered with before it reaches its intended recipient.

You can tell if a site is using SSL when a padlock is displayed with the URL,​ or the address bar shows the URL as HTTPS instead of HTTP.

What is SSL used for?

SSL is used for transmission of sensitive data such as credit card details, account login information, and any other sensitive information that needs to be encrypted to prevent eavesdropping.