SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) respectively is currently the most sophisticated security protocol in the Internet. Originally developed by the company Netscape Communications to permit secure data transfer using the HTTP protocol, SSL/TLS can in the meantime secure every protocol that is located above the Transport Layer (TCP) in the TCP/IP protocol stack.
As TLS is a term introduced since quite some time and the versions of the SSL/TLS protocol named with 'SSL' are no longer supported, in the interNet Services Guides mostly only TLS instead SSL/TLS is used.
This chapter deals with the following topics:
Communications security on the Internet
Fundamentals of cryptography
Overview of TLS
Applying for and generating X.509 certificates
Overview of TLS support in FTP and TELNET