Do I need SSL?

[mrwalker]

I am going to set up a new school website which will hopefully have various user groups e.g. public users, staff, pupils and parents. For each user group some of the information will be unique to them. For staff, I might decide to put information from INSETs on it or for parents, the latest photos from a sports event etc...

I really don't know much about SSL, but I was wondering if it is a security feature that would be necessary and useful to have on a school site where for some information, it would be important that it was kept safe.

Any help would be appreciated.

[localzuk]

I'd say yes. Any information which could be classed as personal should be encrypted. Plus, it adds that piece of mind that people aren't snooping your username/password combos when people log in...

[powdarrmonkey]

For this, it's probably a nice-to-have. It'd be a good one for you to learn on, before it matters much more.