Overview—Hummingbird Connectivity SSL

Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) protocol provides encryption of all traffic between HostExplorer sessions and a server. Specifically, the SSL/TLS protocol secures the communication between the client (HostExplorer) and the server (for example, VT) by providing the following:

• Server authentication—Proves the identity of the server.
• Client authentication—Proves the identity of the client (optional).
• Encryption—Ensures that the transmission of communication between the server and the client cannot be read by a third party.

SSL was first put forward as a transport protocol. The last draft of SSL V3.0 was published in November 18, 1996, and is available at the following web site:

http://home.netscape.com/eng/ssl3/draft302.txt

The most recent version of the TLS protocol as the successor to SSL V3.0 is RFC2246 which is available at the following web site:

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2246.txt

For information on how key encryption is used to secure HostExplorer communication through SSL/TLS, see the “Encryption/Decryption” topic .

Related Topics

Generating Self-Signed Certificates