In this chapter, we will learn:

For many applications, you may want to secure the user—web-server transport from eavesdropping and tampering. To solve this problem, the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) was created as a transparent layer between the TCP/IP transport and higher protocols using streams. SSL provides authentication and encryption based on Public Key Cryptography.

In short, Public Key Cryptography works with two keys on each side—one for encryption and authentication, which is called a certificate or public key, and the other for decryption and signing, which is called a private key. The public key can be published freely, while the private key has to be kept—well, private. For a more detailed discussion, read:

Introduction to Public Key Cryptography from Sun Microsystems at http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6154-10...