At 09:01 27/10/98 -0000, you wrote:
>Why when trying to access a www. web site was I told that a SSL was required
>and to try typing https:// first. Should the error message have told me
>how to get round the security? What does the secure socket layer mean?
SSL operates on port 443, not port 80, and browsers translate http:// to
port 80 and https:// to port 443, which is why the error message told you
to try typing https://.
The error message hasn't told you how to get round it, only how to access
the first level of security. If you don't validate at that level then you
wouldn't get any further - it's directions to the gatehouse, as it were.
SSL uses certificates to validate either the user, the server or both to
allow for secure web transactions. What this effectively means is that
someone who wants your credit card details can prove that they are who they
say they are, or someone who is trying to publish information to a web site
can prove that they are an authenticated author.
At a deeper level SSL can be used for public/private key pair encryption of
the data stream. This allows secure and private connections across a
public network, but places an enormous overhead on both the client and the
server (a standard web server will only achieve 1% of its potential maximum
if every transaction was encrypted using SSL).
SSL is only really used nowadays for web transactions, but it does have
analogues in the field of Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology which
allow for private networks to be set up across public ones.
Does this help?
Cheers
Andy
--
Andy Theyers Tel: 01904 435403
Account Manager, Carelink Fax: 01904 435199
Infocom (UK) Ltd Mob: 0467 367650
http://www.carelink.info-com.com/ http://nww.carelink.nhsweb.nhs.uk/
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