Siebel Security Hardening Guide > Securing the Network and Infrastructure >

Enabling Encryption of Network Traffic

If a Siebel Business Applications deployment over the Internet does not implement encryption between users' browsers and the Web server or between the Web server and application server, then such a deployment is susceptible to network sniffing and compromising of sensitive data. Implementing encryption for all network traffic and for all sensitive data prevents network sniffing attacks.

In Siebel Business Applications, stored data can be selectively encrypted at the field level, and access to this data can be secured. In addition, data can be converted into an encrypted form for transmission over a network. Encrypting communications safeguards such data from unauthorized access.

As illustrated in Figure 5, end-to-end Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption protects confidentiality along the entire data communications path, from the Web client browser to the Web server, to the Siebel Server, and back again. It is recommended that TLS encryption is enabled where possible.

Figure 5. Encryption of Communications in the Siebel Business Applications Environment

For additional information on the SSL and TLS encryption options available, see the following topics:

• Enabling Encryption Between the Web Client Browser and Web Server
• Enabling Encryption Between the Web Server and Siebel Server
• Enabling Encryption Between the Siebel Server and Siebel Database
• Enabling Encryption for Security Adapters
• About Using SSL with Siebel Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)