TLS vs SSL: What’s The Difference And Benefits?

Understanding the difference between TLS vs SSL Certificates is essential for website security and for protecting confidential, sensitive data. These two protocols form the backbone of secure Internet communication by encrypting data transfers between web servers and browsers. Many people use these terms interchangeably without knowing their characteristics and differences. Understanding their use cases and which protocol offers better protection can help you make informed decisions about the safety of your online business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• TLS and SSL provide encryption for confidentiality and authentication, verifying domain names and ensuring data hasn’t been intercepted or tampered with during transmission.
• The evolution from SSL to TLS addressed new security threats; each upgrade improved upon the last by removing vulnerabilities, stronger encryption, and enhancing performance.
• Although often known as SSL certificates, they use the TLS protocol to verify website ownership, enable encrypted connections through HTTPS, and secure online communications.
• With a handshake process, the client and server authenticate each other and establish encrypted communication through exchanging information.
• Implementing TLS/SSL can enhance trust, improve search engine rankings, and provide protection against attacks and scams.

What is TLS vs SSL?

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was the first cryptographic protocol developed by Netscape in the mid-1990s to secure communication over networks. It established the framework for encrypting data transmitted between web servers and browsers, ensuring unauthorized individuals couldn’t intercept and read it.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the successor to SSL, released in 1999 as an upgrade to SSL 3.0. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) developed TLS to address security vulnerabilities in SSL’s protocol.

Despite being technically different security protocols, many still refer to TLS as SSL, contributing to the confusion between the two, as they both serve the same basic purpose.

Evolution of TLS & SSL Protocols

TLS and SSL protocols have evolved since their inception. Released in 1995, SSL 2.0 (SSL 1.0 was never released) was the first widely used version but revealed serious security flaws. These included:

• Vulnerability to downgrade attacks like SSL stripping.
• Poor Message Authentication Code (MAC) made it susceptible to attacks that could alter data without detection.
• Weak cipher suites (combinations of encryption algorithms, key exchange methods, and hashing functions), meaning an attacker could easily break the encryption.

Note: MAC is a digital signature confirming the communication originated from the intended website.

Improvements in the newer version, SSL 3.0, followed in 1996, but it also came with issues, such as gaps that let hackers decrypt data and steal sensitive information. This prompted major browsers to deprecate SSL and use TLS instead.

The first version of TLS was an upgrade to SSL 3.0 with several security improvements. However, it still contained vulnerabilities that led to attacks like BEAST (Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS).

TLS 1.1 (2006) improved upon TLS 1.0 by addressing some of these. TLS version 1.2 (2008) was the next step up, and it included a more substantial security upgrade, supporting stronger cryptographic algorithms.

This brings us to TLS 1.3 (2018), the current industry standard for modern browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge), and mobile device operating systems. The latest version’s improvements include:

• The handshake process requires only one round-trip (RTT) instead of two.
• Removal of support for outdated and insecure algorithms.
• Encrypted handshake messages for better privacy.
• Improved performance with less connection latency.

The Role of SSL & TLS Certificates

SSL/TLS certificates establish an encrypted connection between a client (web browser) and a server/website, protecting data travelling between the two from eavesdropping, tampering, and forgery. This is especially important for sensitive personal information, online banking, e-commerce transactions, and other financial data.

The same applies to secure email communications that use protocols like SMTPS, POP3S, and IMAPS to protect content and attachments. These digital certificates do this through the following:

• Validation: Confirming the website owner’s identity and that the domain belongs to the company or person.
• Enabling HTTPS: Allowing websites to use the https:// (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) prefix and show the padlock icon in browsers, telling visitors the connection is safe.
• Key Exchange: Containing the public key required for the encryption key exchange that establishes the secure connection.

Types of TLS/SSL Certificates

There are several types of security certificates available, offering different levels of validation for web browsing:

• Domain Validated (DV): The most basic and most used level, verifying only domain ownership.
• Organization Validated (OV): Provides more thorough validation by verifying domain ownership and company information.
• Extended Validation (EV): Offers the highest level of validation; requires extensive verification of the organization’s legal identity.
• Wildcard: Covers a domain and all its subdomains with a single certificate.
• Multi-domain: Secures multiple unrelated domain names with one certificate.

How TLS & SSL Certificates Work

The heart of both TLS vs SSL protocols is the handshake process, which establishes a secure connection between a browser and a server. Though TLS vs SSL handshakes differ in some technical details, they follow the same general sequence. Here’s how SSL certificates work in real time:

1: Client Hello

The browser begins the connection (usually using port 443) by sending a Client Hello message containing information about its capabilities, including:

1. The highest protocol version it supports.
2. A random number for generating the session keys later.
3. A list of suggested cipher suites.

2: Server Response

The server responds with:

1. The highest mutually supported protocol version.
2. Another random number for session key generation.
3. The selected cipher suite from the client’s list that it supports.
4. The digital certificate containing the server’s public key

3: Certificate Verification

The client verifies the server’s digital certificate by checking whether a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) issued it, its validity and expiration date. It also checks if the domain name in the certificate matches the actual domain name of the website being accessed and if the digital signature on the certificate is verified using the CA‘s public key.

4: Key Exchange

The exchanged information allows the client and server to agree on the pre-master secret, which will be used to generate the session keys. The specific method used depends on the chosen cipher suite for the public key and the server’s private key

5: Session Keys Creation

Both client and server independently convert the pre-master secret into session keys. These keys will encrypt and decrypt the application data exchanged after the handshake. A TLS handshake uses asymmetric encryption, which means that two different keys are used instead of symmetric encryption, which uses the same key for both.

Both parties send encrypted Finished messages to verify that the handshake was successful, and that the encryption works correctly.

After the handshake, a secure channel is established, and all communications are encrypted using the established session keys.

Security Features of TLS & SSL

Both TLS vs SSL protocols implement several security features to protect private and personal data during transfer:

Encryption Protocols

The main function of both TLS vs SSL is data encryption. They convert plaintext data into ciphertext, which appears as a random string of characters to anyone who may intercept it. Only the intended recipient (browser/server) with the corresponding key can decrypt the ciphertext back to readable plaintext.

Encryption methods have evolved significantly from older versions of SSL to modern TLS connections.

Authentication

The authentication process ensures that the server and site you’re connecting to are precisely the ones you intended. This also helps prevent Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) and phishing attacks, where scammers pose as legitimate websites.

Authentication is done through the digital certificates issued by trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs) that contain:

• The website’s public key.
• Domain name information.
• The certificate owner.
• The CA’s digital signature.
• Validity dates.

Data Integrity

Secure Socket Layer and TLS certificates ensure data isn’t altered during transmission by implementing MACs to verify that what is received is identical to what was sent.

If any part of the data changes during the transfer, the integrity check will fail, and the connection will be rejected to prevent tampering.

The Key Differences Between TLS vs SSL Certificates

As we’ve discussed, while often used interchangeably, TLS and SSL are different security protocols.

The main difference is that TLS is the modern, secure successor to SSL because of those security vulnerabilities we mentioned earlier, and all SSL versions are no longer supported. However, when you purchase an SSL certificate, it will almost always support the latest TLS protocols.

The TLS encryption we use today offers better security features, including improved authentication methods, stronger cipher suites and encryption algorithms, and protection against SSL protocol vulnerabilities.

• Security Level: TLS offers significantly stronger mechanisms than SSL to secure web traffic.
• Alert System: TLS has a better alert system that provides specific information about potential errors or security issues during connection and diagnosing attack attempts.
• Record Protocol: TLS uses HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) for message authentication, while SSL uses a more vulnerable MAC algorithm.
• Handshake Process: TLS has an improved handshake process that is more secure and requires fewer round trips. This speeds up connections, contributing to a better user experience and reduced server load.

It also resumes sessions more efficiently, which allows clients and servers to re-establish a secure connection much faster without a full TLS handshake, improving performance.

Encryption methods have improved significantly since the early versions of SSL. SSL initially used relatively weak encryption algorithms such as RC4 and DES. Today, TLS uses stronger encryption standards, including AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 128-bit or 256-bit keys.

Benefits of Using TLS or SSL Certificates

The biggest benefit of TLS vs SSL for your website is the encryption that protects sensitive data from theft and keeps it private. This includes:

• Personal information, such as names, addresses, and login credentials.
• Credit card and banking details are encrypted, reducing the risk of theft and fraud.
• Prevents attackers from intercepting data and ensures it hasn’t been altered during the transfer.

Having an SSL certificate can improve your credibility. Customers who see the padlock icon and HTTPS in their browser are more likely to trust your site and less likely to leave.

Also, most browsers warn visitors that your site’s connection isn’t secure. This is especially important for ecommerce sites as it can lead to improved conversion rates.

TLS/SSL also helps prevent and mitigate several common cyber threats:

• MITM Attacks: Prevents hackers from placing themselves between end users and websites.
• Phishing Scams: Helps verify a website is legitimate through certificate validation.
• Cookie Hijacking: Protects session cookies from being stolen and misused.

When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) best practices, search engines like Google prefer to send visitors to safe, fast websites. HTTPS is a ranking factor, giving secure sites a slight edge in search results, while TLS 1.3 improves page loading speeds thanks to its streamlined handshake process compared to earlier versions.

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Other Blogs of Interest

– Do I Need An SSL Certificate For A Website?

– SSL Inspection: How It Works And Why It Matters

– What Is a Single Domain SSL Certificate and How Do I Get an Affordable One?

– SSL Connection Error? What It Is And How To Fix It

– Risks And Realities Of Unsecure Websites