What Is SSL Inspection? Use Cases, Work, Implementation

What Is SSL Inspection?

SSL inspection is the term commonly used to refer to SSL/TLS decryption or SSL visibility, whereby encrypted SSL/TLS traffic is intercepted by a security appliance or software to be decrypted for further scrutiny.

It allows organizations to inspect, filter, and intercept the encrypted traffic passing through their networks for security.

During the SSL inspection, the security appliance appears to act as a ‘man in the middle’ by intercepting SSL/TLS traffic, decrypting it through a certificate that is installed in the appliance, and encrypting it again to forward it to its intended destination.

This makes it possible for security solutions like intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS), data loss prevention (DLP) systems, antivirus scanners, and content filters to scan the payload for security threats, leakage of information, or policy violation.

How Does SSL Inspection Work?

SSL inspection is a process that taps into an encrypted SSL/TLS session, decrypts it, and then forwards the payload while itself re-encrypting it to the target recipient.

Here’s a step-by-step explanation of how SSL inspection works:

Step 1: Intercepting Traffic

SSL inspection devices which include proxy servers or other other security devices work in between the client and the server.

One scenario revolves around a client attempting to commence an SSL/TLS connection with a server, only for the SSL inspection device to intercept the encrypted traffic.

Step 2: Decrypting Traffic

When the SSL-encrypted traffic is diverted to the SSL inspection device then it unencrypts the same with the help of a trusty and verified SSL certificate placed on the device.

This means that the device can decrypt the contents of the SSL/TLS connection to gain the plaintext data.

Step 3: Inspection and Analysis

Once the traffic is decrypted, the SSL inspection device may perform different types of checks.

For instance, for malware, content violating a company policy, or threats by utilizing an Intrusion Detection/Prevention System (IDPS).

Step 4: Re-encrypting Traffic

The process of SSL inspection is culminated by analyzing the inspected traffic for threats, after which the SSL inspection device re-encrypts the traffic using the SSL certificate of server either or dynamically created one.

This happens to guarantee that the data is encrypted as it was when it was at the source, thus freeing it from risks during transfer.

Step 5: Forwarding to Destination

Last of all, the SSL inspection device encrypts the traffic and passes it to the intended destination i. e. web server or application server.

From the client perspective, as well as the server perspective, the SSL inspection device provides an interface through which it can hold a seamless SSL/TLS session without the SSL connection being broken.

SSL Inspection Use Cases

SSL interception or commonly referred to as SSL decryption or SSL TLS interception, is one of the important security tools that can be utilized in many situations to improve security and as a shield from dangers.

Some common use cases for SSL inspection include:

Malware Detection

By performing an SSL inspection, organizations are able to scan for malware or any act of unlawful activity from enciphered traffic.

Decrypting SSL/TLS connections enables the security devices to inspect the actual content of the browser’s web page, content of email, or files being downloaded in an attempt to detect and stop the malware files, URLs, or the C&CC communications.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

A DLP policy can be further implemented in an organization since SSL inspection helps organizations analyze encrypted traffic to search for specific data, including PII, financial data, and intellectual property. This way, the DLP solutions can also identify and block any leakage of data to external sources.

Threat Prevention

The importance of SSL inspection is measured by its ability to help secure and fight against modern threats like APTs, zero-day, and phishing.

When implemented as network and security layers SSL/TLS traffic can be scanned for signs of an attack, signs of abnormalities or even for the attack signature itself and the activity blocked before it gets to the target.

Compliance Monitoring

The EDI is important since many regulations, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) require the examination of encrypted traffic to meet the legal standards of data protection and privacy.

However, SSL inspection is beneficial in that it enables the monitoring and auditing of communications that are encrypted and often needed to adhere to certain compliance regulations.

Application Control and Visibility

SSL inspection helps the organizations to have control and detailed view of encrypted applications and protocols used in their networks.

The decryption SSL/TLS traffic enables security devices to filter and enforce the use of cloud applications, social media, and other web services within and outside the workplace, thus providing organizations with an option of accepting or rejecting such services.

Pros of SSL Inspection

Threat Detection

By maintaining a copy of the encrypted traffic and decrypting it, SSL inspection enables organizations to monitor encrypted communication traffic and identify and prevent the passage of malicious content, malware, and cyber threats.

Decrypting SSL/TLS connections allows security devices to properly scrutinize the content of the website, messages, and file downloads for further identification of any bad things.

Data Protection

Using SSL inspection, an organization can meet its goals of DLP since this type of traffic filtration allows for filtering personal information, financial data, and other important information by comparing it to company data leakage policies.

Technologies like SSL inspection enable the organization to check outgoing traffic and block unauthorized transfers of data.

Regulatory Compliance

Some of the security standards that govern the analysis of encrypted traffic include the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

This to ensure that privacy and data protection rules are followed. As such, SSL inspection is useful in assessing compliance with the existing regulation on encrypted communications.

Application Visibility and Control

SSL inspection offers insight to applications and protocols in use within an organization’s network from the encrypted form that they take.

Moreover, deciphering SSL/TLS traffic helps security devices distinguish and manage access to specific Internet services, cloud applications, social media platforms, and other services that an organization deems acceptable to be used or a threat to the organization’s security, respectively.

Enhanced Security Posture

As a tool for intercepting SSL traffic, SSL inspection empowers an organization to enhance its posture by identifying such threats as new generation vulnerabilities, other unrecognized threats and phishing.

Since the examination of SSL/TLS traffic for indicators of compromise and attack patterns reveals threatening techniques and suspicious activities.

In this case, organizations can use SSL inspection solutions to effectively prevent cyber threats and ensure the security of their networks, data, and users.

Cons of SSL Inspection

Performance Impact

The problem that arises from implementing SSL inspection is that it has the potential to affect the performance of the network since it entails the process of decrypting packets from end to end.

This can reduce the rates of transfer within a network and overall response time to users who are trying to access web services and applications.

Resource Intensive

SSL inspection can be resource-consuming in terms of computational capacity, especially CPU and memory, to decrypt SSL and analyze encrypted throughput in real time.

Consequently, the SSL processing may impose a high load on the organization’s infrastructure and may require using high-performance hardware or dedicated SSL inspection appliances to facilitate the processing efficiently.

Complexity

The overall process of configuring and managing SSL inspection solutions proves to be both complicated and intricate, mainly in large-scale network environments with different types of traffic flows and various security profiles.

Companies need to collaborate and manage SSL inspection policy settings correctly to prevent harms to the network stream and accurately detect threats.

Privacy Concerns

SSL inspection requires decrypting SSL traffic in order to filter it and thus triggers privacy issues related to data collection and storage.

There is a need for organizations to put the right measures and governance for intercepted and decrypted traffic for privacy regulation compliance.

Certificate Management

SSL inspection also demands the use of trusted SSL/TLS certifications to facilitate decryption and re-encryption of encrypted traffic.

Also Read: What is Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM)?

SSL/TLS certificate modifications, whether issuance, renewal or revocation, can be tedious, especially when dealing with large organizations with many devices and endpoints.

How to Implement SSL Inspection?

The steps that are followed in implementing SSL inspection are outlined below as a guide to implementing SSL inspection solutions within an organization’s network architecture:

First, organizations should identify what traffic is encrypted and needs to traverse the network, and what security policies exist and must be enforced.

Once the requirements are set, organizations can choose an SSL inspection solution that fulfills the performance, scalability, and security factors.

The deployment architecture is then determined taking into account issues such as, network topology, traffic patterns and security policies.

The SSL inspection policies used are used to define which encrypted traffic will undergo decryption and then inspection by stipulated parameters such as the source/destination IP addresses, port number or the type of application.

SSL inspection appliances or devices are placed based on the planned topology, and SSL certificates are properly configured so as to enable the decryption and re-encryption of encrypted traffic.

There are rigorous testing procedures, validation, monitoring, and maintenance of the solution for SSL inspection to ensure continuous performance enhancement and adherence to the set policies and compliances.

Best Practices to Follow

Here are some key best practices to follow for SSL inspection:

Clearly Define Objectives

It will be important to state the purpose or objectives of implementing SSL inspection before actually deploying the technology.

Define the precise risks and dangers of security that you want to counter through the assistance of SSL inspection, like malware detection, protection against data leakage, or enforcement of organizational compliance standards, among others.

Develop a Comprehensive Policy

Ensure that your organization implements and enforces unambiguous policies on the management of the SSL inspection process.

Determine which type of traffic is going to be eligible for inspection, how the inspection will be done, and the procedures that will be applied when working with decrypted information.

Ensure Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Find out the legal and regulatory framework of SSL inspection mandated in your country. It is imperative to guarantee that your SSL inspection processes do not infringe on legal requirements such as the GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS among others.

Obtain User Consent and Awareness

Notify users of SSL inspection where this is necessary based on legal or organizational requirements and gain consent when necessary for the process.

Instruct the users on why SSL inspection is being done and what effects it will have on their private information and how their data will be used during the SSL inspection.

Select Appropriate SSL Inspection Tools

The best SSL inspection tools and solutions can be selected based on the security needs of your organization and your preferred performance.

Some of these attributes may include the extensibility of the technology, the compatibility with existing systems, the ease of implementation and integration as well as support for more sophisticated threat detection mechanisms.

Conclusion

Identify such sophisticated threats concealed in encoded traffic, secure crucial information assets, and adhere to compliance standards. Assure your network and enjoy calm knowing that your organization has the latest SSL advanced inspection technology from Certera.