SSL For Dummies

Some time back I interviewed with Amazon.com for a developer position at their local Cape Town office here in South Africa. Unfortunately, after surviving the first harrowing telephonic interview, I then proceeded to bomb gloriously in the second interview, conducted by a guy called Quinton. I have to say, despite my short circuit, this was the toughest interview process I've ever been through - which bodes well for the quality of people hired by Amazon.

While I'm not sure how well I fared on the initial part of the second interview, I do know that I completely fell apart when Quinton asked me to explain SSL to him, as I would if I were explaining it to my grandmother. Now that's an excellent question. It tests how well you know SSL, and it tests your communication skills - most notably your ability to relate difficult concepts to others. I knew what SSL was and how it worked, but I guess in the heat of the moment, I wasn't expecting the whole 'splain it to ya grandma' angle, and I folded like a bad hand of poker.

So, the question remains, how would I explain SSL to my grandmother (ignoring of course the challenging aspect that both my grandmothers have passed on)? Okay, well here's my second attempt. Quinton, you listening?

Grandma, I want to explain something called SSL to you. SSL is an abbreviation for Secure Sockets Layer. Now I know you have absolutely no idea what that is so let me see if I can explain it to you in a way you'll understand.

Let's suppose that you want to send a letter to uncle Ben with some confidential information in it. (That's okay grandma, I don't know about your secrets, you don't need to look so uncomfortable.) As you know, our postal service is not very trustworthy, and they constantly snoop in our mail, and steal valuables like cash notes we send inserted in cards. So how do we ensure that your letter arrives at uncle Paul intact, and untouched? Well here's how we do it.

You will have a special box, that can only be locked with a key that only you have. That box can only be unlocked with a key that only uncle Ben has.