More on SSL and TLS

Question 1

What is SSL and TLS and what do they do?

Answer 1

Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security. They are cryptographic protocols that provide secure internet communications for browsing, IM, email, VOIP and other services.

Reminder: SSL/TLS is the when a secure connection is established between browser and server asymmetrically, and communication then continues symmetrically.

Question 2

What attack tricks TLS into using a lower quality version of itself?

Answer 2

Downgrade Attack

Question 3

What is break and inspect, and how does it help defenders protect a network that uses TLS?

Answer 3

Break and Inspect uses a proxy server. The proxy server is used to inspect ingoing and outgoing TLS traffic. It decrypts the traffic, inspects it to verify its contents and that its safe, and then re-encrypts it and sends it to the intended destination.