SSL is an encryption protocol that is used to secure communication over the Internet.
The common use of SSL is to serve as the encryption layer in communication between your browser and the web server, so that all data transferred between them is encrypted, even if one of them is connected over a public network like the Internet.
SSL provides three security benefits:
- The server's identity is authenticated so the client knows with whom to communicate
- The connection between client and server is private and secure
- the data between them is protected from eavesdropping