Secure Sockets Layer is the idea of encrypting a client and server socket so outsiders cannot read or quietly alter that traffic.
Transport Layer Security is the successor that current browsers and servers use, and the older design should not be offered.
How it works
In the protocol idea, the two sides agree on protection, the server presents a certificate, and later records on that socket are sealed and checked.
A person sees a familiar site while the channel underneath resists eavesdropping on the path.
The name is often confused with a singular historical label for the same product line.
Here the focus is the protective idea and the handover to the successor, not the story of how the wording changed in early documents.
Concrete examples
- A browser locks a shopping session so a cafe network cannot read the password on the wire.
- A mail client refuses a server that still offers only the retired protocol versions.
- An API client checks the certificate name before it sends a token across the protected socket.
Protective measures
- Offer only the successor protocol on public servers and disable the retired versions.
- Present certificates whose names match the service, and renew them before they expire.
- Watch for clients that fail closed when the certificate or the protocol version is wrong.
- Document for operators that the successor, not the retired socket design, is the required setting.
Related articles
What does the singular name Secure Socket Layer mean? explains the historical singular wording, which is a naming story rather than the protocol idea.
What is public key infrastructure? explains the certificate system a protected socket uses to name the server.
What is a security protocol? explains agreed protection rules, of which a protected socket is one familiar example.