SSL: Good, but not good enough ...

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) has long been the encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the internet. However, the cryptological lead is only ever razor-thin and hackers are always hot on the heels of security experts. Which is why the old SSL protocol has now been replaced by Transport Layer Security (TLS).

However, the principle remains the same: if a client establishes a connection to the server, the server must identify itself with a certificate. This certifies to the 'knocking' client that it is accessing a trustworthy page. For confirmation, the client queries the server with a random number or similar, whereupon the server can only solve the task if it can offer a suitable resolution in accordance with the agreement. We are therefore dealing with a form of 'key exchange'.

The customer can recognize secure Internet pages by their browser-dependent verification symbol on the far left in the address bar.