How to Verify if TLS 1.2 is Being Used: A Comprehensive Guide

Ensuring that your website or web application uses the latest and most secure protocols is crucial for maintaining robust security. Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 is a widely-used and highly-recommended protocol for secure connections. In this article, we will explore various methods to verify if TLS 1.2 is being used, including:

Using a Web Browser

Most modern web browsers support TLS 1.2 by default, making it easy to check if a specific website is using this protocol. Here are the steps for popular browsers:

Google Chrome

Open the website you want to check. Click on the padlock icon in the address bar. Click on the Details or More Information link.

After clicking Details or More Information, look for the Security section, which will display the currently used protocol, including TLS 1.2.

Mozilla Firefox

Open the website. Click on the padlock icon in the address bar. Click on More Information. Click on the Security tab.

The Security tab will show you the currently used protocol, such as TLS 1.2.

Using Command Line Tools

For more technical users, command line tools like curl and openssl can be used to check the TLS version:

cURL

Run the following command in your terminal: bash curl -v -k --tlsv1.2 If the connection is successful, it means TLS 1.2 is supported.

OpenSSL

Run the following command in your terminal: bash openssl s_client -connect -tls1_2 If the connection is successful, it means the server supports TLS 1.2.

Using Online Services

There are also several online services that can help you test if a website supports TLS 1.2:

SSL Labs SSL/TLS Test

Visit SSL Labs. Enter the URL of the website you want to test. In the Protocol Support section of the report, it will indicate whether TLS 1.2 is supported.

Server Configuration

If you have access to the server configuration, you can check the current settings:

Apache

Check the file or your site’s configuration file. Ensure TLS 1.2 is enabled with the following directive: apache SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2

Nginx

In your server block, ensure TLS 1.2 is included with the ssl_protocols directive: nginx ssl_protocols TLSv1.2;

Conclusion

Using any of these methods, you can verify if TLS 1.2 is being used for secure connections. For the most accurate results, especially in production environments, it’s best to check server configurations directly or use trusted online tools.

Note: If you want to see if your connection to a website is using TLS 1.2, you can use a testing site like TLS Checker. If you want to see the TLS level encryption method using your browser, you can right-click on the website page, select “Inspect,” and switch to the “Security” tab.