Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a widely used
communications protocol for secure communication over a computer
network, with especially wide deployment on the Internet.
Technically, it is not a protocol in itself; rather, it is the
result of simply layering the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) on
top of the SSL/TLS protocol, thus adding the security capabilities
of SSL/TLS to standard HTTP communications.
The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS)
is the most widely deployed security protocol used today. It is
essentially a protocol that provides a secure channel between two
machines operating over the Internet or an internal network. In
today's Internet focused world, the SSL protocol is typically used
when a web browser needs to securely connect to a web server over
the inherently insecure Internet.
