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HOW TO CHECK SSL CERTIFICATES AND STAY SECURE



Thanks to SSL certificates, it is easier now than ever to check if a connection
is secured enough or not. So, how do you check the SSL certificate on any
website? To check an SSL certificate on any website, all you need to do is
follow two simple steps. 

 * First, check if the URL of the website begins with HTTPS, where S indicates
   it has an SSL certificate. 
 * Second, click on the padlock icon on the address bar to check all the
   detailed information related to the certificate. 


It seems pretty simple, but there’s a lot more to this process than you would
expect. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the what and why for the
need to check for SSL certificates so you can stay secure. 




TABLE OF CONTENTS



 * How To Check SSL Certificates and Stay Secure
 * For Starters, What is an SSL Certificate?
 * Various Types Of SSL Certificates
 * How To Check SSL Certificates?
 * How Do You Know If You Have An SSL Certificate?
 * Is My SSL Certificate Valid?
 * Self-Signed Certificate
 * Setting SSL Certificate in Linux
 * Setting SSL Certificate in Windows
 * Steps To Renew An SSL Certificate
 * What Are the Types of SSL Certificates?
 * What Type of SSL Certificate Do I Need?
 * How Do I Remove Expired Digital Certificates?
 * How Do SSL Certificates Work?
 * What Is the Difference Between SSL and TLS?
 * How Do I Disable SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, and TLS 1.0?
 * How Do I Enable TLS?
 * SSL Certificate Automation Benefits





UNDERSTANDING SSL

As of October 2020, there were 4.66 billion active internet users, and the
number is only growing. The evolving technologies like 5G connectivity, mobile
devices, and the ever-growing internet content are only aiding the internet’s
further use for many purposes.

From simple content delivery systems, video streaming, blogging to complex
workspaces and financing solutions – the internet has something to offer for
almost any aspect of our daily life. 

Businesses worldwide are increasingly going through digital transformations.
Data that was previously locked up in bulky files are easily accessible over the
internet. But that does not mean it is any less sensitive or loses its
confidentiality nature. Especially data that involves your private information
and financial information must be protected with strong security practices. And
that is where SSL comes in. 

SSL is the popular security protocol that allows you to secure transactions over
the internet by validating SSL security certificates. 

You can easily find out whether your connection is secure by checking for the
SSL certificate issued by the website you are trying to access. As a best
practice, it is recommended that you only connect with and supply data to sites
that have an SSL certificate. Not having an SSL certificate should automatically
indicate a less trustable site, and you have to be careful when clicking on such
unsecured links and sites. 

So, how to check HTTPS? There is an effortless way to check if a site uses SSL
certificates. Every site that uses the SSL certificate system will have the
HTTPS protocol specifier in its web address. While HTTP stands for HyperText
Transfer Protocol, the S adds the security part provided by SSL. So check for
these two things to know whether a site is SSL protected. 

The site name should start with HTTPS, e.g., https://www.yoursitename.com.

You can get detailed information about the site’s security by clicking on the
padlock icon on your browser application’s address bar. 



Now for the in-depth explanation and a deeper understanding of SSL, how it
works, and why it is essential, let’s keep reading.


FOR STARTERS, WHAT IS AN SSL CERTIFICATE?

SSL certificates are small snippets of data associated with a site that
indicates that the site has implemented the SSL security feature. SSL stands for
Secure Socket Layer, a security protocol that defines an encryption standard
using the public / private key mechanism. 

The SSL certificate acts as the website’s public key and validates its identity
and information to authenticate it to be a valid site. The private key is kept
safe and secure, while any device or API request trying to access the site will
have to reference the public key to verify the site’s identity. SSL certificates
are issued by valid Certificate Authorities (CA) only. 

SSL certificate is also used with TLS protocol, an enhanced security protocol
used in SSL by most modern browsers and sites. Every connection made to a
TLS/SSL-enabled site is encrypted. Anyone trying to access the site without the
proper credentials will be denied access and will only intercept garbled values.


VARIOUS TYPES OF SSL CERTIFICATES

Based on the domains, SSL certificates are categorized as:

 * Single domain – This type of SSL certificate applies to a single domain name
 * Wildcard – This type of SSL certificate is applicable for a single domain and
   can also be included for use in subdomains. For instance, blog.Site.com. 
 * Multi-domain – These SSL certificates can be used for multiple unrelated
   domains. 


Each SSL certificate may also have different validation levels associated with
it. Based on the validation level, SSL certificates can be classified as:

 * Domain level validation: This validation applies to just the domain name, and
   the business has to prove that they are in charge of the domain name
 * Organization validation: These are more trustworthy as the certifying agency
   (CA) will directly contact the business for issuing the certificate 
 * Extended validation: The CA conducts a more thorough process and background
   check for this certificate level before issuing the certificate. 


Based on the SSL certification level, you can deduce the site’s legitimacy and
use it accordingly with the necessary caution. 


HOW TO CHECK SSL CERTIFICATES?

All modern browsers make it easy for you to quickly check if a site is secured
by SSL encryption or not. The easiest way to know if a site is SSL encrypted or
not is to check its URL. The URL of the site should start with HTTPS. 

For more details about the site’s security credentials, you can click on the
padlock icon near the address bar and get more information on the site’s SSL
certificate details. 

So, where to find SSL certificates on the server? To view detailed SSL
information on popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox, you can follow the
below steps: 

 * Click on the padlock icon in the browser’s address bar. For example, this is
   how it looks for keyfactor.com




 * Click on the certificate pop-up and check the certificate details such as
   expiry date and the valid duration.



 

 * You will get to see more information in case of extended validation
   certificates, such as the organization’s identification details. You will
   only get to see the certifying authority’s details at the bottom section of
   the pop-up for other types of certificates.
 * To get more detailed information about the SSL certificate, you can click the
   ‘More Information.’ On clicking, you will be redirected to the site that
   gives you more accurate information on the certificate. 


HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE AN SSL CERTIFICATE?

If you own a site and want to check your SSL certificate, the easiest way is to
check your dashboard for any approved certificate issued by a CA. If you have
multiple SSL certificates installed for your site, you can locate them using any
of the two following methods. 


CERTIFICATE MANAGER TOOL

SSL checkers or scanners, such as one provided by Keyfactor, are used to scan
your entire network and locate all of your installed certificates. 

 * You can also make use of the Windows Certificate Manager Tool if using the
   Windows Server environment. 

 * To view the certificates stored on your local device, launch the Certificate
   Manager tool.
 * To do so, open the command prompt, type in certlm.msc, and Enter.



 * You can view all the certificates stored in your computer on the left pane
   and expand the directory to get more detailed information on a certificate. 
 * For certificates accessible to the current user, launch the Certificate
   Manager Tool by typing in certmgr.msc in the command prompt.  


CERTIFICATE STORES

If not using a tool, you can manually search and locate installed certificates
in certificate stores. Certificate stores are containers within the server
environment that contain all your certificates. Based on the type of
certificates stored, Certificate stores can be classified as: 

 * Personal – These stores contain certificates with private keys 
 * Trusted Root Certification Authorities – All third-party certificates and
   certificates from customer organizations will be stored here
 * Intermediate certification authorities – These include the certificates
   issued to subordinate CAs. 


If using a Windows Server, you can access the Certificate Store using the
following steps:

 * Open the MMC (Microsoft Management Console) by entering MMC on Command
   Prompt. 
 * Go to file, and then select Add/remove Snap-in.
 * You will be shown a list of snap-ins. Choose Certificates from the list, then
   click Add.



 * On the next dialog prompt window, select Computer Account and click Next.
 * Select your Local Computer on the next prompt and then click Finish.



 * Next, click OK, and you will be redirected back to the snap-ins page. 


To view a particular certificate in the MMC snap-in, choose it from the left
pane where the certificate store is present. The available certificates from the
selected certificate store will be displayed on the middle pane of the window. 

To view the certificate, double-click on it. A Certificate Window will appear
and show the selected certificate’s different properties, such as the valid
duration, expiry date, path, and any associated private key details. 


IS MY SSL CERTIFICATE VALID?

All SSL certificates come with a finite lifespan with a set expiry date. Upon
reaching the expiry date, the SSL certificate will not be considered valid. 

Most SSL certificates have a lifespan ranging from one to three years, after
which the website needs to get their certificates reissued from the certifying
authority. A certificate’s validity may be fixed depending on factors like cost,
company policy, validation level, etc. 

In most cases, a certificate will be replaced once it nears its expiry date. But
certain conditions like the heartbleed bug, SHA-1 end-of-life migration, company
mergers, changes in security policy may demand you to replace certificates. 


HOW TO VERIFY SSL CERTIFICATES IN WINDOWS?

To check if SSL certificate is installed, you can use the Certificate Manager
tool and check its validity period. Another alternative option is to use the
sigcheck Windows Sysinternals utility to verify TLS version. Download the
utility and run it with the switch command sigcheck -tv. It will list all the
trusted Microsoft root Certificate lists. 


SELF-SIGNED CERTIFICATE

Before installing an SSL certificate, you need to make sure you have valid
certificates issued from a CA. To do so, you will have to generate a CSR. CSR
stands for Certificate Signing Request, which is how you make an application to
receive an SSL certificate from a CA. 

A CSR consists of a public key and other details required to validate your
identity. You will have to provide information such as the Distinguished Name
(DN), Common Name (CN), and fully qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for your website
that needs the certificate. 

Here are the steps to creating a self-signed certificate with both public and
private key:

 * Run the below command in your terminal

openssl req -out testsite.csr -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout testsite.key

 * You might get prompted for an optional password, and you can supply a
   password to protect your private key. This command will create a CSR as
   output under the name testsite.csr and a 2048 bit private key under the name
   testsite.key. 


You can now submit this CSR to request signed certificate files from a valid
Certifying Authority. After the necessary domain and company validation, the CA
will provide you with three files, the private key, the certificate file, and
the intermediate certificate file, which can be used to install SSL in your
server.


SELF-SIGNED CERTIFICATE VS. CA-SIGNED CERTIFICATES

While CA-signed certificates are the recommended and trusted way to implement
SSL, you can also use self-signed certificates if required. But doing so will
throw warning messages in the browsers as it will not be considered from a
trusted source. 

Use self-signed certificates when you don’t deal with sensitive data or if your
target audience is a closed group. If you are running an eCommerce site or
dealing with a massive traffic volume, CA-signed certificates are the best way
to go. 

 * To create a self-signed SSL certificate, you can run the following command in
   your server environment:openssl x509 -signkey testsite.key -in testsite.csr
   -req -days 365 -out testsite.crt
 * This command generates a certificate file named testsite.com.crt from the CSR
   file input. 


SETTING SSL CERTIFICATE IN LINUX

If you are using a Linux server environment, installing an SSL certificate will
depend on the server you use. Here are the steps to install an SSL certificate
for an Apache Web server. 

 * Get your certificate files downloaded from the Certifying Authority along
   with the private key associated with the certificate. The usual file
   downloads include a certificate file, private key file, and a certificate
   chain bundle file. 
 * Configure your Apache server to include certificate files properly. This can
   be done by including the config entries you can find in the below file paths
   into your Virtual Host section. 

               etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

               etc/apache2/apache2.conf

               httpd-ssl.conf

              Ssl.conf

 * To add the entries, modify the configuration file as follows:

             <VirtualHost testcertificates.com:443>

              DocumentRoot /var/www/html2

              ServerName testcertificates.com

             SSLEngine ON

            SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache/ssl.crt/ServerCertificate.crt

             SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache/key.crt/yoursite.key

            SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/apache/ssl.crt/ChainBundle2.crt

            < / VirtualHost>

 * To check whether the config updates were correctly done, execute the
   following command: 

          sudo apachectl configtest

Restart your server after making the configuration changes and check if the SSL
certificate has been installed correctly. If you find any issues, do contact
your certifying authority to ensure you have the valid files. 

To test whether the SSL installation is successful, you can try visiting your
site from different browsers and see if the URL has been appropriately changed
to HTTPS protocol. The security information is displayed on the browser, as
explained earlier. 


SETTING SSL CERTIFICATE IN WINDOWS

The steps to installing SSL certificates in a Windows Server 2016 using
Microsoft IIS 7 are given below.

 * Get your certificate and intermediate certificate files ready. You can
   receive them from the CA for your domain. The files you would require are the
   server certificate file, the private key, and the CA bundle file.
 * Launch the IIS manager from the Start > Control Panel > Internet Information
   Services (IIS) manager.

 * Select your server name from the Connections Menu and navigate to the
   Security section.
 * Under the Actions menu on the right pane, click Complete Certificate Request.
 * Browse and upload your certificate files as the wizard takes you towards a
   step-by-step process of installing the SSL certificate. Give a custom name
   and click OK to save the SSL certificate. It should now be available on the
   Server Certificate List.
 * Bind the installed certificate to your website.
 * To do so, go to the Connections Menu > click on Server Name > Sites and
   select the site you want to set the SSL certificate.
 * Under the Actions menu, click Bindings and then click the Add button on the
   Site Bindings dialog box.
   
   Fill in the details such as:
   
   
   
   * Type – HTTPS
   * IP Address – All unassigned or select from the available IP addresses that
     correctly applies to the site
   * Port as 443 (default) or to the port your SSL traffic listens to
   * SSL certificates – the friendly name of the SSL certificate just installed.
   
    

 * Click View to review the details and then OK to finish the binding.


STEPS TO RENEW AN SSL CERTIFICATE

As mentioned earlier, every SSL certificate comes with an expiry date, after
which the browsers will start showing warning messages when the site is
accessed. An expired SSL certificate is a security vulnerability you need to
take care of at the right time. To avoid the security complications and possible
low trust score of an expired SSL certificate, you must renew them on time. 

The process is quite similar to getting a new SSL certificate. 

 * Generate a CSR (Certificate Signing Request)
 * Select your SSL certificate and enter the required details like the validity
   period you need and other details and submit it to the CA. 
 * You will get renewed certificate files which you can use on your server. 
 * Renewing SSL certificates will require you to complete the same procedures
   you did for getting a new SSL certificate. These could be domain validation,
   organizational validation, and other verifications as needed for the level of
   certificate you are applying to the CA for.


TO RENEW SSL CERTIFICATES AND CREATE A NEW SELF-SIGNED CERTIFICATE WITH THE IIS
MANAGER IN WINDOWS

 * Launch the IIS manager and open the Server Certificates under the Connections
   column on the left.
 * Under the Actions pane, click on Create Self-Signed Certificate. Give an
   easy-to-use friendly name and click OK.
 * These steps help create a self-signed certificate that is valid for one year,
   and you can find it under the Server Certificates list. Now bind this
   certificate to your website as mentioned in the earlier steps.
 * As the last step, add your self-signed certificate to your Trusted Root
   Certificate Authorities. Launch the MMC console and create a Certificate
   snap-in. Copy the self-signed certificate created and then paste it to the
   folder under the Trusted Root Certification Authorities.


TO RENEW CERTIFICATES FROM THE CA

Launch the MMC and start the Certification Authority Snap-in. Go to the All
Tasks > Renew CA certificate by right-clicking on the name of the CA. 



 

You will be prompted to a Yes or NO dialog box for stopping Active Directory
Certificate Services. Click Yes. 



 

On the next prompt for Renewing CA certificate, you either choose to generate a
new public and private key pair or keep using the old pair. Complete the
process, and you will find that the certificate is renewed. 




WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SSL CERTIFICATES?

Based on the type of validation you seek, SSL certificates can be classified
into three types. While the encryption levels are the same for all the types,
the various verification and vetting processes involved in getting the
certificate issued from the CV vary. A high validation level indicates that the
website is highly credible and trustworthy.  


DOMAIN VALIDATED CERTIFICATE (DV)

Only the domain name validity is verified in this type of certificate, and no
additional information is displayed on the Secure Site seal. Hence, the DV
certificate is considered the least secure of all the SSL certificate types as
you cannot be sure who is on the other side of the request. These certificates
are issued very quickly as there is not much validation process involved. It is
also the cheapest option available which will suit site owners who need a quick
SSL certificate without added effort. 


ORGANIZATION VALIDATED CERTIFICATE (OV)

This level of SSL certificate is issued after the CA has confirmed the
organization’s existence and identity. These certificates will have additional
information, such as the organization name in the certificate file under the ON
field. It involves a more detailed vetting process compared to the DV
certificate.


EXTENDED VALIDATION CERTIFICATE (EV)

An EV level certificate requires a thorough vetting process as defined by the EV
guidelines. The CA forum initially ratified these guidelines in the year 2007.
Some of the requirements for getting an EV certificate are:

 * The organization’s existence must be verified in terms of legal, physical,
   and operational aspects. 
 * The identity of the organization must match that which is present in official
   and government records. 
 * The organization must have exclusive right to use the website/domain that is
   to use the SSL certificate. 
 * The organization must have raised a Certificate request by themselves, and no
   third party should have raised it on their behalf or instead of them. 


EV certificates are the most accountable and trustable certificates acknowledged
by browsers and user clients. It can be provided to any type of business.
Additional guidelines list down the various categories under which the
organization must be audited to qualify for an EV certificate. 


WHAT TYPE OF SSL CERTIFICATE DO I NEED?

Before choosing a particular SSL certificate, you need to consider your actual
requirements, company situation, and urgency to acquire an SSL certificate. Here
are some pointers to think about when choosing your SSL certificate type. 

 * Domain availability and registration status


You must have a registered domain available and ready to apply for an SSL
certificate. Because even the least level of validation involves checking
whether you own a domain name or not. If you thought about using your internal
server name for getting the certificate issue, remember it is no more possible.
The rules implemented from 2015 onwards restrict CAs from issuing certificates
to internal server names or reserved IPs as these names cannot be verified to
identify a company that runs them uniquely. 

 * Determine the trust level you need for your certificate. 


Are you running a simple website blog? Then maybe you can do well with a DV
certificate your web. If you are running a business site but do not carry out
any personal data transfer or financial transactions, an OV certificate may suit
you. But if you are running an eCommerce site, the recommended validation level
is provided with the EV certificate. 

 * Number of domains you need the certificate for. 


If you are going with just one domain, you can use the standard certificate with
a trust level of your choice, be it EV, OV, or DV. 

If you want to secure multiple domains, say, for instance, yoursite.com,
yoursite.in, yoursite.net and so on, you will have to buy a multi-domain
certificate. Multi-domain certificates are costlier and are alternatingly called
SAN certificates as they are used for Subject Alternative domain Names. 

To secure multiple subdomains, say like blog.yoursite.com, cart.yoursite.com,
you need to use a Wildcard domain, which allows you to cover a whole range of
subdomains with the *.yoursite.com format. But going for a wildcard can be an
expensive option if you have just a handful of subdomains. In that case, you can
opt for multi-domain certificates to cover all your subdomains.


HOW DO I REMOVE EXPIRED DIGITAL CERTIFICATES?

As already mentioned, all SSL certificates come with an expiry date, after which
they will be deemed invalid, and browsers will start throwing up security
warnings. You can choose to renew your SSL certificates or remove them and
operate your site as a regular HTTP site without the added security layer. 

Here are the steps to remove an expired digital certificate in Windows systems:

 * Launch the MMC application by going to Start > Run > MMC and then select the
   snap-in > Certificates 
 * Select local computer and expand the Certificates folder under the Personal
   Directory 
 * You will get a list of certificates listed on the right pane. Right-click on
   the certificate you want to remove and select delete. 


In Linux systems, you can try following these steps or use any tool such as the
cPanel to manage your server certificates. 

 * Open terminal and run the below common 


sudo dpkg-reconfigure ca-certificates

 * You will be shown the list of all certificates. From which you can deselect
   the CAs. 
 * Alternatively, you can edit the CA file lists stored in the file
   /etc/ca-certificates.cong and run the below command to update the changes 


sudo update-ca-certificates

Running dpkg-reconfigure will also automatically reset the certificates. 


HOW DO SSL CERTIFICATES WORK?

SSL certificate works as a credential that shows a credible and acknowledged
site by the corresponding Certificate Authority. It implements encrypted message
transfers making sure your data is always protected and is handled by verified
sources only. Here is a detailed explanation of how SSL certificates work. 

In general, when you send a data request over the internet to a website, the
server receives the request and then works on it and sends back a corresponding
result with relevant data. The process is relatively straightforward but is
vulnerable to intervention attacks. If a hacker were to intercept the data
during the request/response data, they can easily get access to your private and
confidential data and make use of it in malicious ways. 

For instance, if you send your bank account and password details over the
internet to log in to your banking site and a hacker gets hold of that data,
they can easily steal money from your account. 

A layer of encryption helps avoid this security vulnerability. When using SSL,
all your data will be encrypted. This means only valid uses with the right
credentials will be able to decode and understand the data. If a hacker were to
intercept the data, all they get would be some encoded data that will not make
any sense. 

The encryption method used in the SSL protocol is an advanced private-public key
pair encryption model. In this model, the server will hold the private key, and
a public key will be shared with the browser clients. The clients trying to
access the website with SSL protection will receive the public key and encrypt
the data and send it to the server. The server will use the private key to
decode the data and send encrypted results back to the client. This process of
server-client interactions in SSL consists of a 

 * TLS handshake – Sessions keys are generated by both the client and server 
 * Encryption with session keys – Data is encrypted with a public key which can
   only be decrypted with the private key and vice versa. 
 * Server authentication – Done to ensure no data is altered during the
   transfer.


WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SSL AND TLS?

TSL stands for Transport Layer Security and has the same function as SSL. It
acts as a cryptographic tool and protocol to enable secure data transfers over
the internet. The major difference is that SSL is an older method while TSL is
an improved and newer implementation of the concept. 

TSL was launched as the successor to the SSL 3.0 version and was first released
in 1999. Previously, SSL was launched in 1994 by Netscape. Both of them provide
the same functionality, albeit with a few technical changes that can be pretty
difficult for a non-technical person to identify. Some common differences you
might find between SSL and TLS are:

Cipher suites 

 * TLS provides support for newer suits like RC4, Triple DES, AES, IDEA, and
   more. 

 

Alert messages 

 * TLS has a more specific and varied range of alert messages in place of the
   generic “No certificate” alert message shown by SSL. 

 

Record protocol 

 * SSL uses the MAC format for encrypting data, while TLS uses the advanced
   HMAC, which is a hash-based method. 

 

Handshake process 

 * The technicality of the handshake process differs between SSL and TSL. While
   TLS calculates hashes over the handshake message, SSL hash calculation uses
   the master secret and pad. 

 

Message authentication 

 * SSL message authentication uses key data, whereas TLS uses HMAC hash-based
   authentication.

 

The differences are quite minor, and TLS is essentially considered an improved
SSL. The terms are often used interchangeably.


HOW DO I DISABLE SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, AND TLS 1.0?

Every year the SSL protocol is improved upon and strengthened to weed out any
existing security vulnerabilities. Hence why continuing to use older versions
might cause security implications. You need to disable the older versions and
continue to use only the latest SSL version for the desired security advantages.
Here are the steps to disabling the older SSL versions. 


DISABLING OLDER SSL VERSIONS IN APACHE SERVER

Change the configuration settings of your Apache server. The config file may be
present in different locations, as listed below. Locate:

 * Ubuntu/Debian: /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
 * In virtual host debian/Ubuntu systems :/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/
 * In virtual host Red Hat/CentOS: /etc/httpd/sites-enabled/
 * CentOS/Redhat systems : /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf


Once you have located the file, search for the entry “SSLProtocol” and change it
to 

SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1

 * Restart the apache server 
 * service httpd restart or
 * service apache2 restart 


Similarly, for Nginx or TOMCAT servers, modify the config file. Change the 
ssl_protocols entry to the latest TLS version and restart the server. 

To disable the older SSL versions in Windows, you can either use a tool like the
IIS crypto tool to modify the SSL versions through a GUI app. To do the same
manually, follow the below steps 

Open Registry editor by Start > Run > regedit 

Find the following registry key/folder:

 * If you have SSL 2.0 listed, right click on it and select New-> Key and create
   a new folder called Server. 
 * Under the Server folder,  click Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit value)
 * Enter Enabled and press enter.  The data column should have the value 0, if
   not right-click and set it to zero. 


Similarly, repeat the steps to disable SSL3.0 and restart your computer to
reflect the changes.


HOW DO I ENABLE TLS?

Sometimes your browser settings may be set not to allow SSL sites. In these
cases, you will have to update your settings to enable TLS site access. Here are
the steps to follow. 


ENABLING TLS IN CHROME

 * Open Google Chrome > Settings. 
 * Go to Advanced Settings > Network > and click on Change Proxy Settings 
 * Select Advanced tab and scroll through the Security category. Locate the Use
   TLS checkbox options and enable the TLS versions you want to. 
 * Click OK and restart your Chrome browser. 


ENABLING TLS 1.3 ON WINDOWS 10


ENABLING TLS 1.3 IN FIREFOX

 * Click on Tools > Internet Options > Advanced Tab 
 * Open Internet Explorer browser. 
 * Open Internet Explorer browser. 
 * Scroll to the Security category, find the US TLS check box options, and
   enable them to enable the respective TLS version.
 * Click OK and restart your browser.

 * Open Firefox browser. Go to the address bar and enter the address as: 
   about:config. 
 * You will be shown the config page. Try to search for TLS using the search
   field. 
 * When you find the entry security.tls.version.min, select it, and set the
   value to 1 to enable it.
 * Click OK, close the browser and restart. 


SSL CERTIFICATE AUTOMATION BENEFITS

Automating SSL certificate management is a great way to easily keep track of and
update all your digital SSL certificates. Here are some notable benefits you get
with a good SSL certificate automation tool 

 * It reduces manual error and labor overhead. 
 * Reduces the cost of TLS certificate mistakes which can cost businesses
   heavily. Most modernism browsers will restrict access to a site with invalid
   or expired certificates, thus leading to a  huge drop in incoming traffic to
   your site. 
 * Ensure the site is up to date with the latest security protocol. 


As you can see, checking SSL certificate, ensuring it is verified, and removing
it when it is beyond the expiration date is essential. However, the involved
process is a lot cumbersome and needs technical know-how. Not anymore.
Keyfactor’s certificate management and automation solutions are here to help you
out.

Contact us to learn more and explore the useful features of Keyfactor. 



FIND OUT HOW THE KEYFACTOR PLATFORM CAN MODERNIZE YOUR PKI, PREVENT CERTIFICATE
OUTAGES, ACCELERATE


Get a Demo


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