Configuring Ssl; Overview; Ssl Security Mechanism; Ssl Protocol Stack - HP FlexFabric 5930 Series Security Configuration Manual

Configuring SSL

Overview

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic protocol that provides communication security for
TCP-based application layer protocols. SSL has been widely used in applications such as e-business and
online banking to provide secure data transmission over the Internet.

SSL security mechanism

SSL provides the following security services:
Privacy—SSL uses a symmetric encryption algorithm to encrypt data and uses an asymmetric key
•
algorithm such as RSA to encrypt the key used by the symmetric encryption algorithm. For more
information about RSA, see
Authentication—SSL uses certificate-based digital signatures to authenticate the SSL server and
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client. The SSL server and client obtain digital certificates through PKI. For more information about
PKI and digital certificates, see
Integrity—SSL uses the message authentication code (MAC) to verify message integrity. It uses a
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MAC algorithm and a key to transform a message of any length to a fixed-length message. Any
change to the original message will result in a change to the calculated fixed-length message. As
shown in
a. The sender uses a MAC algorithm and a key to calculate a MAC value for a message,
appends the MAC value to the message, and sends the message to the receiver.
b. The receiver uses the same key and MAC algorithm to calculate a MAC value for the received
message, and compares it with the MAC value appended to the message.
c. If the two MAC values match, the receiver considers the message intact. Otherwise, the
receiver considers the message tampered with and discards the message.
Figure 39 MAC algorithm diagram

SSL protocol stack

SSL includes an SSL record protocol at the lower layer, and an SSL handshake protocol, SSL change
cipher spec protocol, and SSL alert protocol at the upper layer.
"Managing public
"Configuring
Figure 39, the message integrity verification process is as follows:
keys."
PKI."
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