Web Security and Commerce

SSL: The User’s Point of View

Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer contain extensive support for SSL. This section describes the support for transferring documents using encryption. SSL’s support for digital certificates is described in the next section.

Note

Netscape Navigator uses the term “secure document” as a shorthand for the phrase “documents that are transmitted using SSL.”

Of course, documents transmitted using SSL aren’t any more secure or unsecure than documents that are sent in the clear. They are simply cryptographicallly protected against eavesdropping and modification while in transit.

Browser Preferences

Netscape Navigator 3.0 and Internet Explorer 3.0 control their SSL behavior through the use of special panels. Navigator calls this panel Security Preferences and it is accessed from Navigator’s Options menu. Explorer calls this panel the Advanced Options panel and it is accessed from Explorer’s View menu. Navigator 4.0 has a “security” button prominently located.

Navigator preferences

The Netscape Navigator 3.0 Security Preferences panel is shown in Figure 12.3.

Figure 12-3. Netscape Navigator’s Security Preferences panel

The controls listed under Navigator’s General tab allows the user to control when various alerts are displayed. Netscape Navigator can be configured to alert the user:

• When an unencrypted document is being viewed and an encrypted document ...