Information technology defines the way modern companies do business, perhaps more so than any other resource available to your company. It not only provides unique tools to increase productivity and streamline the cost of providing goods and services to the market in practically every niche, it also creates new opportunities for marketing and for assessing the effectiveness of your strategic choices in many areas of your operation. Online communication also gives you more opportunity to communicate with customers, suppliers, and even your employees quickly, so your company can be more responsive in every way. Unfortunately, there are also risks to adopting more and more information technology tools. With each innovation, new vulnerabilities to data theft and other security issues arise. That's why you need to have the tools to keep your online resources secure. It lets you give yourself and your customers piece of mind, improving your working experience and ability to meet customer needs.
Encryption Tools for Businesses in 2020
One of the best ways to keep information safe online is through secure connections. The HTTPS protocol has been in place for over a decade to help by providing a secure channel of communication between your site and end users, but it doesn't make for an entire security program on its own. The HTTPS protocol provides an encrypted connection that is free of tampering and relatively safe from data theft during transmission, so you and the people accessing your site can count on the fact that no one else is eavesdropping. It does not stop attacks, though. For that, you need an additional layer of encryption, and the most common ones are SSL and TLS.
Network Security Protocols
You have probably heard of SSL because it has been the go-to solution for encrypted connections alongside HTTPS since the early 90s. It's good, but it's not as sophisticated as TLS, the newer option for modern networks. What is TLS? Short for transportation layer security, this protocol has the ability to provide security for practically any kind of connection, from web browsing to email, instant messaging, and even server-to-server operations like those used in the running of cloud-based enterprise software suites. It achieves this through the use of message authentication by way of a key hash, which is why the Internet Security Task Force has deprecated SSL in favor of TLS as the new standard for online security.
Upgrading System TLS Protocols
Chances are that if you're using network security tools that have been recently updated, you're using TLS 1.0 or 1.1 protocols. If your tools are still relying on SSL, it's time for an upgrade to the industry standard so you can meet the needs of your customers while protecting your business. For those who are already using TLS, now is the time to put your IT department to work on an upgrade. Version 1.2 of the protocol is the most up-to-date in early 2020, and many browser manufacturers and other software providers will be phasing out front-line support for older versions of the protocol. Just as SSL was deprecated in favor of TLS 1.0, the 1.0 and 1.1 versions of the protocol are due to be deprecated in favor of their successors.
Stay Ahead of the Curve With Your IT Security
Using an outdated transportation layer security protocol is about more than just making sure your customers can trust the connection to your site when they visit or make a purchase. When the old protocols are deprecated, sites still dependent on them will begin returning a secure network failed error to users, indicating that your TLS authentication is out of date. At that point, some browsers might even begin to classify it as a risky site to visit. The result of that classification is usually decreased page ranking for searches, as well as a lower likelihood of customer engagement. That's why upgrading your TLS to today's most secure version is so important to your business. Improved security doesn't just add peace of mind, it increases your visibility and makes your site more attractive to new visitors, improving your entire business experience on the web.
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