Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security support

SSL and TLS are widely used to protect data on the Internet. The SSL and TLS protocols use digital certificates to establish a secure connection between a Web server and any client systems that interact with it. After the connection is established, data transferred between the systems is encrypted using security keys. Only the intended recipient of the information can decrypt the data.

You can also use SSL or TLS to protect data on a smaller scale, such as within a print system like RICOH ProcessDirector. You can activate SSL or TLS to provide a greater level of security for the print data that is exchanged between the primary server and user interfaces, as well as the data that is exchanged with other applications using the Web services that RICOH ProcessDirector supports.

To use SSL or TLS on a computer, you must obtain a digital certificate and install it on that computer. It is recommended that you get your certificate from a certificate authority (CA), because CAs are considered trusted third parties. You can use a self-signed certificate for testing, but using that certificate on production systems is not recommended.

When the certificate is issued, the CA sends it to you in an e-mail. You store the certificate in a keystore on the computer that the certificate is registered to.

After the Web server is configured to use it, SSL or TLS is automatically used for communications. The URL for the RICOH ProcessDirector user interface changes to use the https:// prefix. You can still access the user interface using the http:// address, but you can configure the Web server to forward all requests to the secure address.

To use SSL or TLS with RICOH ProcessDirector, you can get a digital certificate and install it on the primary computer before you install the base product. After the base product is installed, you must activate SSL or TLS in the RICOH ProcessDirector Web server component.