The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol, uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. The “sockets” term refers to the sockets method of passing data back and forth between a client and a server program in a network or between program layers in the same computer. SSL uses the public-and-private key encryption system, which also includes the use of a digital certificate.
