

TLS is a proposed Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard, first defined in 1999, and the current version is TLS 1.3, defined in August 2018.

In technical writing, references to "( D) TLS" are often seen when it applies to both versions. The closely related Datagram Transport Layer Security ( DTLS) is a communications protocol that provides security to datagram-based applications. It runs in the presentation layer and is itself composed of two layers: the TLS record and the TLS handshake protocols. The TLS protocol aims primarily to provide security, including privacy (confidentiality), integrity, and authenticity through the use of cryptography, such as the use of certificates, between two or more communicating computer applications. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in securing HTTPS remains the most publicly visible. Transport Layer Security ( TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network.
