The SSL protocol provides encryption at the Transport Layer, also known as the layer 4 of the OSI communication stack. This layer is responsible for end-to-end communication between applications over the network.
Some key points regarding SSL protocol encryption at the Transport Layer include:
- SSL protocol uses symmetric key encryption to encrypt the data being transmitted between the client and the server.
- The encrypted data is encapsulated within SSL/TLS headers and sent as Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) packets.
- The SSL protocol also provides mechanisms for authentication, message integrity, and handshake protection.
- SSL protocol operates above the TCP/IP layer and thus is only applicable for applications that use these protocols for communication.
- The SSL protocol is now deprecated and has been replaced by the newer TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol.
