What is an SSL termination?

SSL termination, also known as SSL offloading or SSL decryption, is a security technique used in networks to monitor and secure data traffic. SSL termination involves de-encrypting or "terminating" SSL/TLS connections at an intermediate point in network communications. This intermediate point is often a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or a load balancer.

In a typical SSL termination configuration, the WAF or load balancer receives encrypted HTTPS requests from the clients (e.g. web browsers). The WAF or load balancer then decrypts the SSL/TLS traffic and checks the content for threats, vulnerabilities or anomalies. This allows security infrastructure such as WAF to monitor and analyze unencrypted traffic and, if necessary, take appropriate security measures to detect and block attacks.

After analyzing and checking the data traffic, it may be encrypted again and forwarded to the target server. This process ensures that the security and integrity of the transferred data is maintained during transport, while allowing comprehensive security monitoring and analysis to be carried out.

Airlock Secure Access Hub offers powerful gateway functionality that supports SSL termination. The SSL termination feature allows Airlock Secure Access Hub to decrypt, monitor and analyze encrypted traffic to detect and block attacks. Find out more about the gateway component of Airlock Secure Access Hub at the following link: Airlock Secure Access Hub - Gateway.