Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) are cryptographic protocols widely adopted and deployed in network communication today. The traffic over SSL/TLS is encrypted and signed to ensure security, hence HTTPS. Because encrypted HTTPS connections can carry the same risks as unencrypted HTTP connections, Cloud Edge scans all traffic for potential risks and threats.

Cloud Edge can enable or disable HTTPS inspections and exclude specific URL categories from inspection. After the traffic is identified, Cloud Edge determines the appropriate actions for traffic based on specified policy settings. To scan HTTPS traffic, Cloud Edge identifies the SSL connection at the first packet of the SSL handshake, acquires the client IP address information from the session, if available, and then gets the server host name from the handshake record. Traffic will not be decrypted if this information matches any allowed URL categories, websites, or IP addresses in the Cloud Edge exception list.

HTTPS traffic on port 443 and 8443 is checked against URL filtering and Web Reputation Services (WRS). If a match is triggered the following happens:

Traffic will be decrypted if the following is true:

Information about HTTPS Inspection is shown in corresponding logs and reports.