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A little disappointed--I thought this was going to be a top-level explanation of how SSL works to protect data, but instead it was a step-by-step "how to buy a

• sr3d 16y ago
  Sorry for making you dissapointment :) For this particular post, I didn't want to go into the nitty gritty details about public key cryptography. I'm more interesting in the practical application of SSL since there is truly a lack of a good general source to understand what's going on for applying a SSL cert and why exactly each step is needed. Most regular people when it comes to SSL will usually don't have a good background into encryption, but they want to have something that works and help them implementing on the sites. Especially with SSL so cheap ($12.99 on GoDaddy), there should not be any reason not to implement it. It's like buying a new car, sometimes you don't really need to know how the engine works, but just know how to drive your new car by inserting the key and hitting the gas pedal. My model of this post is after Feynman: explain it in a way to help peek the interests of the reader. Once the "why" is explained (maybe not as clear or concise as I'd want), the reader would have a clearer picture of the whole SSL business. And if he/she wants to find out more about the underlining encryption algorithm, there's always Wikipedia available for further reading.