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When we transmit or receive data from the internet, our priority is the security of data. For this special task, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a technology that performs the encryption and authentication of data to keep internet connections secure. Nowadays, cybercrimes are increasing day by day and SSL stops the reading or changing the confidential information. If you are using the SSL then it is equally important to know about HTTPS. The term SSL Port is used to identify whether or not your connection is secure. In this article, I have covered a lot of topics related to securing internet connection, common SSL ports, TCP ports, the difference between HTTP and HTTPS, how to secure your connection with the help of SSL and what is SSL port.

What is SSL Port?

Every port on the internet is used for a specific purpose. Whenever you access any online shopping store or another website from your browser, you are experiencing communication between your laptop and server (on which the shopping store is hosted) with or without SSL. The SSL port is used to indicate whether your connection is secure or not.

How To Find Your Connection is Secure or not?

The formula is simple, just look in the address bar where the website’s URL has appeared. The URL starts with either HTTP or HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the indication of an unsecured protocol that uses the port number 80 and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) shows your connection is secure. Now you are thinking about a question “What is the default TCP port for HTTPS?” port number 443 is used as a default. You can view the difference in the picture given below:

If there is no secure connection, you will see the following:

List of Commonly Used TCP Ports

Port Number 0 to 1023: This range of port numbers is assigned to specific server services by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and these ports are well-known ports.

1024 to 49151: This range of port numbers is known as semi-reserved and used by application developers or any other organization for a particular service with the registration of IAMA.

Numbers 49152 to 65535: This range of port numbers is used by client programs and application developers can use any of these ports freely.

Understand the common services and their port numbers if you are going to configure or manage web hosting accounts. The table given below will help you to quickly go through the port numbers and their functionalities.

Web

Port Number	Function
80	HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) – used to transfer web pages
443	SSL – used to transfer web pages securely using encryption (Default port for https)
21	FTP Protocol (Control) – used for FTP commands and Flow control
990	FTPS Protocol (Control) over TLS/SSL
22	SFTP/SSH (Secure Shell) – used for secure logins, file transfers and port forwarding
3306	MySQL

Email

Port Number	Function
110	POP3 – Incoming (used for retrieving emails)
995	POP3 SSL – Incoming (encrypted transmission)
143	IMAP4 – Incoming (used for retrieving emails)
993	IMAP4 over SSL – Incoming (encrypted transmission)
25,80,3535	SMTP – Outgoing
465	SMTP SSL – Outgoing

cPanel

Port Number	Function
2082	cPanel TCP inbound
2083	cPanel SSL TCP inbound
2086	WHM TCP inbound
2087	WHM SSL TCP inbound
2089	WHM SSL TCP inbound
2095	Webmail TCP inbound
2096	Webmail SSL TCP inbound

What is The Difference Between HTTPS and SSL?

There is no major difference between HTTP and HTTPS except the SSL. HTTPS is an HTTP protocol that delivers data using the secured SSL. Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol that works on top of HTTP to deliver security. It is important to install an SSL certificate on the web server for a secure internet connection. It validates the identity of the organization by activating the HTTPS protocol and data is safely passed between web server and browser.

You can also read an article based on the topic “Choose Best Web Server from a Number of Open Source Web Servers“

What is the Difference Between Certificates and Protocols?

Certificates and protocols are two different things but both are necessary for providing secure internet connections.

• HTTPS protocols are like a physical structure that is used to provide a secure medium to travel encrypted information between two points in a secure manner.
• An SSL certificate is used to encrypt the information that will be shared on the HTTP structure.

To encrypt the information, you need to configure your certificate on the web server and set it up.

What is The key Difference Between TLS and SSL?

The SSL was originally developed by Netscape in 1995. However, the TLS is a different thing but uses the same protocols and techniques to fulfill the security risks of today’s world. TLS is recommended for a higher level of security because it uses a stronger encryption algorithm but it is also known as SSL.

What is The Importance of an SSL Port?

It is necessary to configure an SSL certificate from a range of SSL Certificates on your web server to get the message “connection is secure” (HTTPS) in the URL address bar. This is the permission for a secure connection between a client and server. In this digital world where the number of users and online businesses is increasing day by day, the number of hackers are also trying to get your confidential information for misuse. So, any secure website needs to install SSL encryption to protect your useful information from malicious attacks.

What are the Benefits of Using SSL?

Faster Loading Speed Than HTTP

Nowadays, speed matters the most for a good online experience and competing with the top industry competitors. Proactive people always try different techniques to boost their website’s speed. Every user is urgent in this busy life and can’t wait to load and move on to another website. The use of HTTPS is a crucial factor to be implemented when creative people consider all the optimization factors. Every website having HTTPS will load the website faster and save time. In short, it is a good marketing strategy that every user will be visiting our website again and again when he needs to buy anything, so it is very important for good user experience.

Boost Your Rankings And Increase Brand Value

To become a well-renowned and popular business brand on the internet, website ranking is the key requirement. The better you rank in Google the better ROI and maximum number of users. A maximum number of users is equal to the maximum number of businesses on the internet. Your website ranks higher in the SERP results if there is TCP port of HTTPS is used and any SSL certificate is installed.

Kick Out the Hackers with the Strongest Encryption

With the increasing risk of hacks, there is several encryption algorithms are used to deliver an exceptional quality of data encryption. Advanced-level algorithms like DSA, RSA, and ECC are used to encrypt personal and confidential data.

PCI Compliance for Secure Online Payments

For the ease of users’ online shopping, there are several payment methods available to deliver peace of mind. When it comes to online payments, you need a third party known as the Payment Card Industry (PCI) and follow the standard strictly for compliance with its requirements. It is a necessary part of PCI compliance that you must have HTTPS implemented.

Build Audience’ Trust

Most people don’t want to share their personal information with a website that is running on HTTP. The users will be more comfortable with a website having an SSL certificate. It is a stronger signal about the privacy of their information.

Where to Get SSL?

There are several different SSL certificates available to choose the most appropriate one that fulfills your requirements. Check out our latest plans and get wonderful discounts.

What are the Differences Between HTTP and HTTPS?

If you are using the HTTP protocol any hacker can easily hack because your information is open and accessible. In the case of HTTPS, your information can’t be changed because it is encrypted. As you can see in the picture given below:

Features of HTTP

• Pages are stored in a cache so that they can be accessed quickly
• Cross-platform porting
• No runtime support is compulsory
• Available for firewalls!
• Not Connected-Oriented

Features of HTTPS

• Redirect from HTTP:// to HTTPS://
• Allow secure e-commerce transactions
• SSL technology protects confidential data and builds trust
• SSL contains unique authentication information about the certificate owner.
• Web Push notifications only apply to HTTPS.
• PWA (Progressive Web App): It enables you to convert your website to a Playstore mobile App in Android.
• GetUserMedia: If you are using HTTP, you cannot allow the user to use the camera or microphone.

Parameters	HTTP	HTTPS
Protocol	Hypertext Transfer Protocol	Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
Security	Security is Low, Data can be stolen easily	Prevent hackers with the best Encryption standards
Port	Uses port 80 by default	Uses SSL port 443 by default
Start With	http://	https://
Used For	Best suitable for Blogs etc.	Secured online payments and confidential information.
Protocol	It uses TCP/IP.	It also runs over HTTP but uses a TLS / SSL encrypted connection.
Domain Name Validation	No SSL required	It requires an SSL certificate.
Data encryption	No data Encryption	It uses Data Encryption.

According to the TCP/IP and OSI Model

According to the TCP/IP Model:

HTTP protocol stack

According to the TCP/IP model, the 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 has the following:

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

According to the OSI Model

Layer (OSI Model)	HTTP Protocol Stack	HTTPS Protocol Stack
Application Layer	HTTP	HTTP
Security Layer		SSL (TLS)
Transport Layer	TCP	TCP
Network Layer	IP	IP
Data Link Layer	Network Interfaces	Network Interfaces