The major tool for securing e-commerce sites on the Internet is the
use of encryption. This will ensure that security and integrity is
maintained throughout the e-commerce process.


The protocol used to implement security is based on digital
certificates that are used at the Session layer of the OSI model. This
system is called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and fully encrypts:

All HTTP request and response information, including the URL that the
client requests, submitted content from forms, such as credit card numbers, email
address and telephone numbers, HTTP access authorization information, such as
username and passwords and all other data returned from the server to the client


SSL provides a security "handshake" that is initiated during the
TCP/IP connection. This results in the client and server agreeing the
level of security and encryption that they will use for the
connection. After this, the only role of SSL is to encrypt and decrypt
the stream of data between the client and the server.
While SSL ensures that all data passed between the customer and the
merchant website is secure, it is the role of the Secure Electronic
Transaction (SET) specification to ensure that the authentication of
credit card purchases remains secure. SET uses digital certificates to
authenticate all parties involved in a credit card transaction
ensuring that all details remain confidential and secure.