What are Web Sockets?
Summary: WebSockets are a bi-directional, full duplex communications protocol initiated over HTTP, commonly used in modern web applications for streaming data and other asynchronous traffic. Connections are established through a WebSocket handshake over HTTP, with the wss protocol running over an encrypted TLS connection and ws using an unencrypted one, after which messages can be sent asynchronously in either direction.
Why it matters: WebSocket connections are typically long-lived and stay open and idle until either side sends a message, so traffic that never closes a request-response transaction is exactly the kind your HTTP-oriented controls were not built to inspect.
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