SSL Handshake Procedure

The following procedure is an example of the standard steps required to establish an SSL session between a user and an SRA gateway using the SRA Web-based management interface:

1
When a user attempts to connect to the SRA appliance, the user’s Web browser sends information about the types of encryption supported by the browser to the appliance.
2
The appliance sends the user its own encryption information, including an SSL certificate with a public encryption key.
3
The Web browser validates the SSL certificate with the Certificate Authority identified by the SSL certificate.
4
The Web browser generates a pre-master encryption key, encrypts the pre-master key using the public key included with the SSL certificate and sends the encrypted pre-master key to the SRA gateway.
5
The SRA gateway uses the pre-master key to create a master key and sends the new master key to the user’s Web browser.
6
The browser and the SRA gateway use the master key and the agreed upon encryption algorithm to establish an SSL connection. From this point on, the user and the SRA gateway will encrypt and decrypt data using the same encryption key. This is called symmetric encryption.
7
Once the SSL connection is established, the SRA gateway will encrypt and send the Web browser the SRA gateway login page.
8
The user submits his user name, password, and domain name.
9
If the user’s domain name requires authentication through a RADIUS, LDAP, NT Domain, or Active Directory Server, the SRA gateway forwards the user’s information to the appropriate server for authentication.
10
Once authenticated, the user can access the SRA portal.