From Forum Nokia Wiki

Introduction

SSL is an abbreviation of Secure Sockets Layer. The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. SSL has recently been succeeded by Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is based on SSL. SSL uses a program layer located between the Internet's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) layers.

How it Works with respect to SSL Certificate

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology protects your Web site and makes it easy for customers to trust you.

• An SSL Certificate enables encryption of sensitive information during online transactions.
• Each SSL Certificate contains unique, authenticated information about the certificate owner.
• Every SSL Certificate is issued by a Certificate Authority that verifies the identity of the certificate owner.

An SSL Certificate consists of a public key and a private key. The public key is used to encrypt information and the private key is used to decipher it. When a Web browser points to a secured domain, a Secure Sockets Layer handshake authenticates the server (Web site) and the client (Web browser). An encryption method is established with a unique session key. They can begin a secure session that guarantees message privacy and message integrity.