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In the current digital world, being able to offer secure data transfers and send information over the internet without being interfered, altered, used illicitly or read by anyone outside the intended users has been the concern of several electronic commerce and online companies. These concerns have necessitated the improvements of a number of security protocols over the internet.

The TLS 1.3 update is a remarkable advancement atop the existing security protocol, marking a substantial retreat from the transport layer security protocol (TLS) and secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption protocols. Ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the updated version was developed to prevent taking on the vulnerabilities and weaknesses available in other older versions of encryption. The TLS 1.3 has several benefits such as a straightforward protocol flow, a safer cryptographic primitives, and improved speed and performance.

What The Transport Layer Security Protocol (TLS) Really Means

TLS is an acronym for transport security protocol, which refers to cryptographic protocols that provide secured communications over the internet. TLS simplifies data security and privacy for communications over a computer network. TLS was developed from SSL and has often been used interchangeably with TLS. The hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), implemented by every website and some web services, is an application of TLS encryption on top of the HTTP protocol. The transport layer security encryption protocol helps to secure web applications from threats, including DDoS attacks and data breaches.

Highlights Of The TLS1.3 Update

TLS 1.3 handshake sequence lessens the number of cipher suites permitted in the security protocol.

TLS 1.3 mainly offers three services: 1) integrity, which ensures that communication has not been compromised), 2)confidentiality, which makes it almost impossible to eavesdrop on client/server communication or content, and 3) authentication, which makes certain that a client is communicating solely with the server they intend to.

To speed up connections, TLS 1.3 has a feature known as "zero round trip time reduction" (0-RTT).

TLS 1.3 mandates the implementation of the perfect forward secrecy (PFS), making it almost impossible to passively monitor encrypted traffic.

The implementation of static RSA and Diffie-Hellman key exchange no longer exist with the new version and have been substituted with ephemeral mode Diffie-Hellman.

TLS 1.3 works with just one round trip between two systems to complete the TLS handshake.

Mozilla Firefox, from version 61 forward,and Google Chrome (together with its Android version), from version 67 forward, support TLS 1.3 models by default.

The Old Vs. The New

The TLS 1.3 update provides better enhancements over TLS 1.2 and is defined in the IETF RFC 8446. TLS 1.2 was defined in RFC 5246 and has been implemented for the last eight years by most mainstream browsers. TLS 1.2, like other iterations, permits older encryption methods to be used to accommodate older computer systems. Exposing the protocol to numerous weaknesses, such as man-in-the-middle attacks, leaves it susceptible to DROWN, SLOTH and POODLE attacks.

Unlike TLS 1.2, TLS 1.3 leaves out insecure and outdated elements obtainable in TLS 1.2, such as AES-CBC, SHA-1, DES, RC4, MD5, 3-DES, EXPORT-strength ciphers (responsible for FREAK and LogJam) and arbitrary Diffie-Hellman groups (CVE-2016-0701). Also, TLS 1.3 supports PFS by default. The cryptographic method includes an additional layer of privacy to an encrypted period, making certain that the two endpoints are the only ones capable of decrypting the traffic.

TLS 1.3 offers superior privacy for data exchanges by encrypting most of the transactions to safeguard the identities of the users and obstruct traffic exploration. Also, TLS 1.3 secures communication between client/server applications by encrypting the entire handshake during the client/server interactions, subsequent to the first client hello. Consequently, existing communications are safeguarded even in the case where future communications are tampered with. TLS 1.3 should be fairly simple to execute since you can easily implement the same keys you applied for TLS 1.2.

How To Prepare For TLS 1.3

Now that the final version of TLS 1.3 has been ratified, what do you need to do to take advantage of this new improvement? Adopting the IETFs ratified TLS 1.3 protocols for securing your data transfers and checking infrastructures has extensive effects and substantial advantages as well.

Middlebox solutions: Most organizations make use of middlebox solutions to monitor their traffic, especially organizations with resilient compliance and regulatory mandates. However, with the TLS 1.3 updates, middlebox solutions might be affected since TLS 1.3 has enhanced the handshake sequence and ensured that certain features are encrypted. This may also downgrade TLS connections or thwart connections from being initiated.

Ask your IT team: Since TLS 1.3 models are now being installed in mainstream browsers and several other applications, you can easily have access to them just by using web browsers that support their applications. It is advisable that you contact your server developers and administrators, as well as your IT teams, to make certain that your websites and services support the TLS 1.3 features that way you can rest assured that your internet connection is secured. Alternatively, you can deploy the SSL server test tool to confirm if your server supports the TLS 1.3 model and to test your domain.

Have a budget or plan for TLS 1.3: Server administrators, providers and developers will be expected to have the TLS 1.3 software update accessible to their clients. The software upgrades may be free for devices protected by maintenance contracts. However, it may necessitate deactivating older encryption versions for which you may need to have a budget or cautiously plan ahead. If your organization hosts its own web servers, you may need to place equipment proficient in active SSL monitoring between the client and server. The implication of this is that you may have to procure a new apparatus and plan a new strategy to ensure security.

The rest is here:
TLS 1.3 Is Coming: Here's What You Need To Know To Be Prepared For It - Forbes