HTTPS, SSL, TLS - What it does

While surfing the net, you often come across web agencies how promote SSL-certificates (or TLS security) on their products - or their ability to create “secure web applications” with SSL. Most users know HTTPS/SSL/TLS as the little lock, that promises “security” when visiting a page - but what kind of security it actually provides is rarely explained - and far worse often misunderstood.

The while SSL is the popular name (and as it was once known) and HTTPS usually is the way users sees it (as part of a URL in a browser) - the correct name is TLS a short for Transport Layer Security.

The TLS provides point-to-point security between the browser and and server. It makes certain no-one can see the traffic (/data) sent between the two parties. Simply put, it provide a secure tunnel/pipe, where anyone can’t listen in. Almost everyone understand TLS to this point.

Many users however thinks it provides more than this. That TLS provides protection from malware infection, voids dangers of cross-site scripting attacks and other dangers of the web, and TLS does not provide any of the sorts.

While the security it provides is good and solid, it is important to understand the scope and purpose of TLS/SSL, it’s often an important part of the security infrastructure of a web application, but only part of it.