TLSSSL

TLSSSL is a label sometimes used to describe the family of cryptographic protocols that secure communications over a network, especially the Internet. The term generally encompasses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), the original protocol developed by Netscape, and Transport Layer Security (TLS), its modern successor. In current practice, TLS is the standard and SSL is considered deprecated, but the two are interoperable enough that older systems may still refer to TLSSSL.

SSL emerged in the 1990s, with SSL 3.0 becoming widely deployed before vulnerabilities led to its deprecation. TLS was standardized by the IETF beginning in the early 2000s (with TLS 1.0 roughly aligning with SSL 3.0) and has evolved through TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2, and TLS 1.3. TLS 1.3, published in 2018, emphasizes stronger security and faster handshakes and removes older, vulnerable features. Modern clients and servers typically disable SSL and older TLS versions.

TLS/SSL provide confidentiality and integrity through a combination of public-key cryptography for authentication and key exchange, and symmetric encryption for data protection. A typical handshake uses an X.509 certificate to authenticate the server, negotiates a key exchange method such as Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman, derives a session key, and then switches to an AEAD cipher suite like AES-GCM or ChaCha20-Poly1305 to protect application data.

TLS/SSL is widely used to secure web traffic (HTTPS) and other protocols. Correct configuration is essential: disable SSL and outdated TLS versions, prefer TLS 1.2 or 1.3, choose strong ciphers, enable certificate validation, and implement measures such as certificate transparency and OCSP stapling. Ongoing maintenance includes renewing certificates and auditing configurations to mitigate vulnerabilities and performance issues.