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Overview of Secure Sockets Layer

SSL encryption (Secure Sockets Layer) is a technology that establishes a secure and encrypted connection between a web server and a browser. It ensures that all data exchanged between these two points is protected against eavesdropping and manipulation. Today, the successor to SSL, TLS (Transport Layer Security), is usually used, but the term SSL is still in common use.Not to be confused with the MIME-Type.### Main features of SSL encryption:

  1. Encryption: SSL encrypts the data transmitted between the browser and the web server so that it cannot be read by third parties.2 Authentication:SSL uses certificates issued by trusted certification authorities (CAs). These certificates confirm the identity of the web server and ensure that users can be sure that they are communicating with the correct server and can upload and download their content to and from a CRUD, if available, without hesitation.3 Data integrity:It includes database management, server-side logic, API provisioning and security.Back-end developers play an important role in the development and deployment of robust and scalable applications.

Why is SSL important?

  • Security**: SSL protects sensitive information such as credit card details, login credentials and personal information from cybercriminals.
  • Trust: Websites with SSL encryption display a lock icon in the browser and use the HTTPS protocol. This signals to visitors that the HTMl is secure and increases trust in the website.
  • SEO advantage: Search engines like Google prefer secure websites and rank them higher, even if the robots.txt or the sitemap.xml are configured optimally. An SSL-encrypted website can therefore rank better in the search results.

How does SSL work?

1st Handshake process: The first time a connection is established between the browser and the web server - even in the case of a redirect - a so-called handshake takes place, during which both parties authenticate themselves and negotiate the encryption algorithms. 2 Exchange of certificates: The web server sends its SSL certificate to the browser. The browser checks the validity of the certificate. 3 Session key: After successful verification, the browser generates a session key, which is used to encrypt the data transfer, and sends it to the web server in encrypted form. 4 Secure communication: From this point onwards, all data is transmitted in encrypted form.

Types of SSL certificates

  • Domain Validated (DV): These certificates only verify domain ownership and are the simplest and least expensive certificates.
  • Organization Validated (OV): These certificates require additional verification of the organization requesting the certificate.
  • Extended Validation (EV): These certificates offer the highest level of security and require extensive verification of the organization. Websites with EV certificates often display the company name in the address bar of the browser.

Conclusion

SSL encryption is an essential security feature for any modern website. Not only does it protect sensitive data, but it also helps to gain user trust and improve SEO performance. With the increasing threats on the internet, using SSL is an important step in ensuring a secure and trustworthy online presence.

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