Web and XML Glossary

HTTPS is a secure way of using HTTP. HTTP provides almost no security features, it contains only basic Authentication mechanisms, and no support for privacy. HTTPS solves this problem by replacing HTTP's transport layer, the insecure TCP, with SSL, a secure transport layer. In the near future, SSL will probably be replaced by the more general TLS protocol, but it is very unlikely that the already established name of HTTPS will be changed to reflect this change.