TLS 1.2 Internet Security Protocol: What it Means & Why You Should Give a ¢®@ϸ

Written by . . .
Lawri Williamson,
Communications &
Brand Manager
Nugget Williamson

If we’re to believe Hollywood,
hackersare really good guys
who haven’t gotten a fair shake. . . .

. . . brooding,
misunderstood
saviors of the
universe . . .

. . . or all-American kids who just
want good grades without the hassle
of studying.

Unfortunately, it’s a little
more serious than that.

High-profile data breaches are
becoming increasingly common

According to
IBM, the average
consolidated cost
of a data breach
is now $3.8 million.

So, if hackers are the bad guys ― the
ones creating the nightmares . . .

. . . who are the good guys ― the ones
working to protect us?

The National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) is the U.S. government
organization that sets the standards for
Internet security.

In 2014, the NIST advised
government entities to
upgrade to the latest
approved security
protocol . . .

(This latest version of TLS was released
in August 2008, just in time for
Madonna’s 50th.
Coincidence?
Or well-timed gift from a
super-fan/developer?)

But the Internet
doesn’t have a big
“master switch,” so
every site owner
has to take care
of the upgrade
for themselves.

And, since site owners are people,
some are more quick to act on
information like this than others.

Companies that deal with a lot
of sensitive information have
been among the first to make
the switch.

If you haven’t upgraded your
browser, you’re going to have
trouble accessing those sites.
Pretend this is you:
If you’re still using IE6, and you want to update
your Facebook status . . .

Instead of ending up here
when you go to Facebook: You’ll end up here:
And you’ll look like this:

To Avoid This Problem:
Check to see what your
current browser
supports by going to
How’s My SSL

To Avoid This Problem:
If your browser doesn’t
support at least TLS 1.0,
you’ll need to upgrade
your browser, or change
to one that does

If You’re the Site Owner:
Go to the CASC SSL Configuration Checker.
Your site will receive a letter grade indicating
that it
 supports TLS 1.2 (that’s an A),
 only supports SSL 2 (that’s a big F), or
 falls somewhere in the middle.

Review
 Hackers = bad
 NIST = good
 NIST says to upgrade to TLS
with AES 256-bit encryption
 Do what NIST says

Review
For additional information, see the
full blog post on this topic at
AppointmentPlus.com

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TLS 1.2 Internet Security Protocol: What it Means & Why You Should Give a ¢®@ϸ

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TLS 1.2 Internet Security Protocol: What it Means & Why You Should Give a ¢®@ϸ