Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
Core Business Services

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) provides data privacy and reliability over network connections using elements of Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI). It does so by allowing a client to authenticate a server in order to establish a connection between them and to negotiate an encryption algorithm and cryptographic keys before the application protocol transmits or receives its first byte of data.

This chapter provides an overview of SSL including its standards, features, and requirements, and describes the elements of PKI that it employs. It also references how OpenEdge supports SSL and defines some SSL terms used in the OpenEdge documentation set.

The topics described in this chapter include:

SSL standards support in OpenEdge
Features and services
SSL session components
Support for trust
SSL interactions and the user

For more information on SSL and how it can affect the design and development of OpenEdge applications, see the “Security” white paper prepared by Progress Marketing, which can be found on the PSDN Web site.