What are: SSL, SHTTP, Shen?
These are all proposed encryption and user authentication standards for the Web. Each requires the right combination of compatible browser and server to operate, so none is yet the universal solution to the secure data transmission problem. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is the scheme proposed by Netscape Communications Corporation. It is a low level encryption scheme used to encrypt transactions in higher-level protocols such as HTTP, NNTP and FTP. The SSL protocol includes provisions for server authentication (verifying the server’s identity to the client), encryption of data in transit, and optional client authentication (verifying the client’s identity to the server). SSL is currently implemented commercially on several different browsers, including Netscape Navigator, Secure Mosaic, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, and many different servers, including ones from Netscape, Microsoft, IBM, Quarterdeck, OpenMarket and O’Reilly and Associates. Details on SSL can be found at: http://home.ne
