Business of the Internet Report
Stephanie Hewlett, Keisha Moore, Mary Clement
Austin Peay State University
Department of Communication and Theatre



Comm. 3720 Authoring Web Pages
Assignment 1, Business of the Internet Report

Secure Socket Layer

As the commercialization of the internet leads to e-commerce, the need for a secure way for consumers to give out personal information such as bank account numbers and credit card information is needed, due to the fact that internet consumers using e-commerce are unaware of whom they are connecting with during a conventional HTTP session. Using Netscapes SSL in conjunction with TCP/IP brings reasonable security to what was once, by nature an unsecure medium (Curbelo & Lipton, 1997).

   Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology is a security protocol that:
	* Encrypts information sent over the network 
	* Validates that a message sent to a recipient arrived without tampering 
	* Authenticates the server identity to prevent sever spoofing 
	* With SSL 3.0, authenticates client identity (Spera, 1998) 

SSL is todayís standard for securing communications and transactions across the Internet. SSL has been implemented in all the major browsers and Web servers. The SSL protocol uses digital certificates to create a secure, confidential communications ìpipeî between two entities. Data transmitted over an SSL connection can not be tampered with or forged without the two parties becoming immediately aware of the tampering (Robinson, 2001).

SSL works by encrypting or translating your data into secret code using either 40-bit or, more popularly 128-bit encryption. Two different types of encryptions team together to ensure message privacy: public key and symmetric key encryption. Basically what happens is secure information is sent and translated into a form of jargon that makes it impossible to interpret without a SSL key. Every piece of traffic between the SSL server and the SSL client is encrypted using a key and an encryption algorithm negotiated during the SSL handshake the process of identifying that each party is who or what they claim to be via SSL certificates) that occurs at the start it the session (Curbelo & Lipton, 1997). A SSL protected page can be identified when the address begins with https instead of the traditional http and there is a padlock icon at the bottom of the page.

In order to use https, web servers require an SSL certificate. Digital certificates allow the client (Web browser) to authenticate the server prior to establishing an SSL session. Typically, digital certificates are signed by an independent and trusted third party to ensure their validity. The "signer" of a digital certificate is known as a Certification Authority (CA) (2004). According to Smartshop.com the fee for an SSL certificate vary between $50-100 a year depending on a companies size.

It is imperative that an e-commerce business convey trust to their customers, if you are serious about your business, the chief way to gain that trust is by having an SSL certificate that is provided by a creditable, well reputed CA. Buying your own certificates and securing your own server can be expensive and tedious, so for smaller businesses it may make more sense to find a company who provides SSL as part of your web hosting package. Web hosting packages range anywhere from about $5-75 a month depending on factors such as what company you choose; how much bandwidth you need; how many domain names you need; how many email accounts you need, etc.

Secure Web Hosting from JaguarPC:

Two of the most trusted companies to purchase certificates from are Thawte and VeriSign. According to Internet Retailer Top 300 Guide, 2004 Edition, VeriSign SSL Certificates have earned the trust of businesses worldwide, including over 93% of the Fortune 500 companies and 94% of the top-50 e-commerce sites.(VeriSign.com)

Thawte:

There are many times and reasons that a user will need a secure connection to a website. The most obvious being those times when credit card information, addresses, birthdates, social security numbers, and bank account numbers are required. SSL provides the safest way to conduct business online. Secure web servers and trusted, recognizable SSL certificates are essential for any e-businessócustomers want to trust that their safety is of the utmost importance to you, and because customers are your livelihood, you must do all that you can to protect them.

References

Robinson, P. (2001, January). Understanding digital Certificates and Secure Socket Layers. Retrieved September 21, 2005, from http://www.simplyzip.com/download/whitepapers/understanding_ssl.pdf

Spera, J. (1998, March). SSL client authentication: it’s a matter of trust Retrieved September 21, 2005, from http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-SSL_client_authentication/

Curbello, H. & Lipton, R. (1997, April). SSL: it’s not just for commerce anymore Retrieved September 21, 2005, from http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-SSL_basics/

The Concise Tech Encyclopedia @ tech-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 23, 2005 from http://www.tech-encyclopedia.com/ssl-certificate.htm

Product comparisons @ VeriSign.com. Retrieved September 24, 2005 from https://www.verisign.com/products-services/security-services/ssl/index.html?sl=t59770059760000002&OVRAW=ssl%20certificates&OVKEY=ssl%20certificate&OVMTC=standard

Product comparison @ Thawte.com. Retrieved October 2, 2005 from http://www.thawte.com/comparison/comparison.html

The Beginners Guide to E-commerce: Secure Socket Layer @ smart-shop.com. Retrieved September 23, 2005 from http://www.smart-shop.com/ssl-guide.html

The Jargon Buster! @ RapidSSL.com. Retrieved September 23, 2005 from http://www.rapidssl.com/ssl-certificate-support/ssl-terms.htm

Web hosting @ JagaurPC.com. Retrieved October 3, 2005 from http://www.jaguarpc.com/?loc=hosting