It is not an easy task to make websites more secure, but there are many technical experts and internet enthusiasts who have accepted the responsibility. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which continues to develop protocol specifications, has left us a clear trail of paper that outlines their thoughts.
We will be discussing two internet protocols that they have been working on for years and are critical to website security: SSL & TLS.
What is SSL?
Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol that makes internet communications secure. It allows users to send confidential information back-and-forth once a website has been verified to be authentic. It establishes an encrypted session between the web browser, and the server.
Since its inception in 1990s, SSL has been available in three versions: SSL 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. However, these versions are now considered obsolete. RFC 7568 deprecated SSL 3.0 in 2015. All subsequent solutions should use the newer TLS protocol.
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What is TLS?
Transport Layer Security (TLS), a industry-standard cryptographic protocol, provides secure communications over the Internet. TLS 1.3 is the most recent version. It was published in 2018. TLS operates at the application layer and is used to protect web browsers from attacks by servers. It is also used in messaging and email.
TLS/SSL certificates are used to make a web page secure. The URL spelling changes from HTTPS to HTTPS when they are added to the HTTP protocol.
The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
TLS/SSL connections make use of the key exchange system, which is part of the public-key infrastructure (PKI). The components of the public key infrastructure (PKI) work together to establish trust between the server and browser. Communication between the two is possible because of the existence of both public and private keys.
While the website server keeps the private key secure, the public key is freely available to the public. A digital certificate is used for verifying that the website is legitimate. The certificate also includes encryption algorithms that encrypt data for secure transmission.
How TLS/SSL Certificates Work and Certificate Authorities (CA).
How can you ensure that a website is genuine? The answer is industry-recognized certificate authority (CA). These are the people who issue SSL/TLS certificates, as well as the public/private key pair pairs. You will be able transact business easily if your browser recognizes a trusted certificate authority’s digital certificate.
If the TLS/SSL certificate cannot be recognized, you might see a message in your browser saying, “The security certificate presented on this website was not issued from a trusted certificate authority.”

Your browser will warn you if a TLS/SSL certificate is invalid. Although you can still browse websites without SSL certificates, experts recommend that you avoid doing business on unsecure sites.
There are key differences between SSL and TLS
SSL and TLS were created for the same purpose: website safety. Let’s be clear: both protocols serve the same purpose. TLS does the job better than its predecessor SSL.
Nomenclature. You should be aware that SSL certificates and SSL certificates are often referred to online as the latest TLS technology. SSL and TLS share many similarities