Why are SSL and TLS used interchangeably?

How do I know if I am using SSL or TLS?

How is this important?

I'm confused because I have a site for which the server sends a TLS certificate in every request. However, I've also seen certificates that only contain SSL signatures (meaning that only the browser knows whether it's encrypted or not). As far as I know, this should only be the case for websites with self-signed certificates (that are also sent over HTTP).

I believe you answered your own question. You have a server sending a TLS certificate and a client communicating directly to the server in order to retrieve a web page. For most websites, this means that the site is using HTTPS.

The term SSL and TLS are used quite interchangeably, and in most cases SSL and TLS are interchangeable (with TLS being a superset of SSL). SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, while TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. The standardization of the SSL and TLS protocols can be found here. The differences between TLS and SSL are discussed here.

If you have an "Https" page the URL begins with "https://". If it starts with "http://" it is a http page.

Https is a secure layer over the http protocol. There are two modes of operation. One of which is where the URL begins with "https" (secure) and the other, called ssl, uses port 443.

Most of the time, http is all you will see. However, with a web browser it is quite easy to access https pages using the HTTP protocol through the user agent or browser. This also allows any "http" request to become a "https" one.

SSL encryption provides your site's identity, so that the browser knows the request is private and not forged. This in turn means that any request may be intercepted by man-in-the-middle attackers. If the attacker can change a "http" into a "https", then the browser is fooled into thinking that it is talking to the right place and that the page is safe.

The best explanation of this is here. A website which has an insecure server and an encrypted connection is vulnerable. If you're sure you're on the right place, check the "HTTPS" logo in your browser. It should tell you if you're at the right place.

In order to use an encryption scheme correctly, you need to know two pieces of information.

Why are SSL and TLS used interchangeably?

It's not technically accurate, but I'm going to use them interchangeably because, for the sake of this post, it's convenient.

(I realize this is really a long-winded way of saying I'm not going to provide any real context for these protocols, sorry!)

Let's say you've got a website called bob.joshuasec.com. It has an SSL certificate which has been signed by Let's Encrypt. Let's Encrypt will give you a certificate that says:

The identity of bob.com is validated by www. You can verify the owner and validity of the certificate by looking at the URL you followed to get here. Let's Encrypt's certificate is valid from: 2018-07-01T11:59:38Z to: 2030-03-31T15:59:38Z

And when you visit the site on your browser you'll be presented with the following display: This is what I've come to expect when visiting sites that have Let's Encrypt SSL certificates. If you navigate directly to bob.com you'll see a slightly different window:

You'll also be presented with a warning from Google saying: Security warning: The connection is encrypted but the server isn't identified. If you're using a browser like Firefox, Chrome or Safari, you might notice a Not Secure message. This just means that the browser isn't entirely happy with the certificate. The browser is telling you that it doesn't know who is hosting the site. The browser's inability to know who owns the site is no fault of Let's Encrypt. Here are some things you might want to look at:

The URL of the site. (Try - does the site resolve?) SSL Certificate Verification. How you got to the website. (Was it clicked on a link?

Does TLS require SSL certificate?

I am trying to secure a connection between two computers on a local network, however my webhost's SSL certificate isn't working (it works fine when I try on my phone or something else). I have this site on the same webhost: When I try to visit my own page, it doesn't work.

I can confirm that I do have an SSL certificate from GoDaddy. My question is this: Does SSL certificate really need to be from a CA for it to be encrypted? Also, is it possible to run a self-signed SSL certificate for local use? Thanks. ? No, but it typically requires a CA-issued certificate. Yes, but it is not possible to use self-signed certificates with "normal" web browsers, see my answer to another question for an explanation. The certificate is used to authenticate the server. If the server is not trustworthy, authentication is not performed and the connection is unencrypted. If you can verify the certificate on the client side, the connection is authenticated.

It is possible to use self-signed certificates to connect to your site, but most web browsers won't accept them for security reasons. You can also run your own certificate authority if you're sure that the certificate authority isn't doing anything shady. But I think that this is an overkill for your problem.