SSL was originally designed by Netscape |
Netscape made C-based source code available for developers (SSLRef Library): http://home.netscape.com/eng/US-Current (US government restrictions) |
SSL is open, not proprietary protocol |
SSL is easy to apply and use because is built in all major Web browsers (IE, Netscape) and servers |
SSL is using S/MIME to send secure data: a user transmitting information to an SSL server from within his browser will transmit that info within a S/MIME packet) |