HTTPS Using SSLv3 or TLSv1

Overview

The Avaya P580 and P882 Multiservice switches support Secure Socket Layer, version 3 (SSLv3), and Transport Layer Security, version 1.0 (TLSv1).

SSL and TLS are protocols that provide data security between application protocols (such as HTTP, Telnet, NNTP, FTP) and TCP/IP. SSL and TLS are used to:

• Transmit encrypted data over TCP/IP networks, and
• Authenticate sites and clients with certificates

HTTPS is HyperText Transfer Protocol that is running either SSL or TLS. TLS is based on the SSLv3 protocol specification published by Netscape Communications Corporation. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines TLS in RFC 2246 as the successor of SSL v3.

SSL and TLS use certificates and public and private keys to secure data. SSL server certificates prove the identity of the server to clients. The application software provides its own internal Certificate Authority (CA) for self-signing certificates. Certificates provide the following information:

• Name of the server's CA.
• Name of the entity to which the certificate was issued.
• Public key of the entity.
• Expiration date of the certificate.

Public and private keys are created from algorithms, called ciphers, that are used to encrypt and decrypt data. The public key is shared. The private key should never be shared. You cannot access the private key on the P580 or P882 switch.

Public-private key pairs work together: Data that is encrypted with the public key can be decrypted only with the private key and vice versa. The Avaya Multiservice switches use only RSA SSLv3 and TLSv1 cipher suites.

This section contains the following information and procedures:

• Supported Cipher Suites
• Viewing Cipher Suites
• Viewing the SSL Configuration
• Creating a Self-Signed SSL Server Certificate
• Viewing the Server Certificate
• Enabling SSL/HTTPS
• Restarting SSL/HTTPS
• Reverting to a Backup Certificate