Protecting data in transit with AWS Certificate Manager

When your external site presents a Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate and uses the secure HTTP protocol (HTTPS/443), customers know that you are protecting data they are sending to and from your systems in an encrypted manner:

Figure 19.7 – How SSL/TLS works from browser to client

When you or your customers request a website that is presenting as HTTPS secured by an SSL/TLS certificate, the following steps take place:

1. The server attempts to connect to the website over the secure 443 port. That web server then identifies itself.
2. The server then sends a copy of its SSL certificate.
3. The client will then check the certificate to see whether it's been issued from a trusted authority. If it trusts the certificate, it then sends a message of acknowledgment back to the server.
4. The server then issues a digitally signed acknowledgment that will start the SSL session.
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