A firewall's premise is to protect private information and reduce unwanted traffic. But Internet users and service providers prefer to think about general security as keeping information private to the sender and receiver and ensuring that services and users know exactly who or what is at the end of the line. To this end, major software vendors have developed various options for dealing with the range of general Internet security issues. Besides Netscape's own significant influence, other major players in SSL implementation include IBM, Microsoft, and even Spyglass. They are incorporating SSL to be used in client and server applications.
Authentication ensures that both the user and server are who they say they are.
From a user's standpoint, this usually means little more than entering a user identification and password. SSL bears a substantial similarity to such authentication techniques as PAP or CHAP, which many remote access systems use. But passwords and IDs aren't the only data that needs to be protected from unwanted viewing. Acceptance of SSL as a standard, like most standardsin the PC industry, is based more on market consensus than certification by a standards bureau. SSL's heavy industry backing and widespread endorsement will make it a major player.