#### What Is SSL and why is it important? Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates, sometimes called digital certificates, are used to establish an encrypted connection between a browser or user’s computer and a server or website. ## SSL: SECURE SOCKETS LAYER SSL is standard technology for securing an internet connection by encrypting data sent between a website and a browser (or between two servers). It prevents hackers from seeing or stealing any information transferred, including personal or financial data. #### TLS: Transport Layer Security TLS is an updated, more secure version of SSL. We still refer to our security certificates as SSL because it’s a more common term, but when you buy SSL from DigiCert, you get the most trusted, up-to-date TLS certificates. #### HTTPS: Hyper Text Protocol Secure HTTPS appears in the URL when a website is secured by an SSL/TLS certificate. Users can view the details of the certificate, including the issuing authority and the corporate name of the website owner, by clicking the lock symbol on the browser bar. --- Transport Layer Security (TLS), as well as its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), uses symmetric encryption. Basically, when a client accesses a server, unique symmetric keys, called session keys, are generated. These session keys are used to encrypt and decrypt the data shared between the client and the server in that specific client-server session at that specific point in time. A new client-server session would generate new, unique session keys. TLS/SSL uses not only symmetric encryption but both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, to ensure the security of client-server sessions and the information exchanged within them. #quantumsecurity