An extension to the
HTTP protocol to support sending data securely over the
World Wide Web. Not all
Web browsers and
servers support S-HTTP. Another technology for transmitting secure communications over the World Wide Web --
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) -- is more prevalent. However, SSL and S-HTTP have very different designs and goals so it is possible to use the two protocols together. Whereas SSL is designed to establish a secure connection between two computers, S-HTTP is designed to send individual messages securely. Both protocols have been submitted to the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for approval as a
standard.
S-HTTP was developed by Enterprise Integration Technologies (EIT), which was acquired by Verifone, Inc. in 1995.
