What is SSl Peer Certificate?

An SSL Peer Certificate is a digital certificate used in secure communication protocols like SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security). It authenticates the identity of a server or client during the SSL handshake, ensuring that the parties involved in the communication are who they claim to be. This helps establish a secure, encrypted connection between the two endpoints, protecting data from eavesdropping and tampering. The peer certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) and includes information such as the public key, the identity of the entity, and the certificate's validity period.