(
Secure
HTTP) An earlier security protocol that provided secure transactions over the Web. Working at the application layer rather than the transport layer of the protocol stack, SHTTP was also used to authenticate the client. In contrast, SSL is used to authenticate the Web server. SHTTP was endorsed by a variety of organizations and integrated into various browsers and other systems, but gave way mostly to SSL for routine security over the Web. See
HTTPS,
SSL and
security protocol.