What is SSL with HTTP?
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a combination of
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol and a network security
protocol.
HTTP operates at the highest layer of the TCP/IP Internet
reference model, the Application layer; but the security protocol
operates at lower sublayer, encrypting an HTTP message prior to
transmission and decrypting a message upon arrival.
HTTPS has also been known as "Hypertext Transfer Protocol over
Secure Socket Layer", but now HTTPS may be secured by the Transport
Layer Security (TLS) instead of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
protocol.
To invoke HTTPS, one replaces "http://" with "https://" in the
URI, or Web address.
HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the
Web and for sensitive transactions in corporate information
systems.