Difference between HTTP, HTTPS, SSL, TLS?

Published by DSK

HTTP

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is an application layer protocol used to communicate between two machines, mostly used in client server model.

The latest version of HTTP is HTTP/2. HTTP/2 is very efficient when compared to the earlier version.

HTTPS

HTTPS is stands for HTTP Secure. Often called as HTTP over SSL or HTTP over TLS. HTTPS increases the privacy and integrity of the data that is communicated over internet. HTTPS is a combination of two layer protocols HTTP on top of SSL.

SSL

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is a cryptographic protocol that provide authentication and data encryption in network communication.

TLS

TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. It is a successor to SSL. Provides secure version of SSL.

OSI Layer

HTTP protocol stack

If you look at TCP/IP model, HTTP protocol stack will be like this:

  1. HTTP - Application
  2. TCP - Transport
  3. IP - Network
  4. Ethernet - Network Interface

HTTPS protocol stack

HTTPS stack will be like this:

  1. HTTP - Application
  2. TLS (SSL) - Transport Layer Security
  3. TCP - Transport
  4. IP - Network
  5. Ethernet - Network Interface