Secure data transmissions are made possible by the data protection technology known as HTTPS. All information sent from one system to another is encrypted (or scrambled) by it. Any outsider trying to "eavesdrop" on the transmission won't be able to identify the data.

Any network, from a tiny local area network to the Internet, can use TLS to secure data transmissions. For instance, TLS is used to transmit website information over SSL on secure websites. HTTPS is supported by SMTP and IMAP email systems.

The port number needed for safe protocols is usually distinct from that needed for non-secure protocols. The typical protocols for online and email communications, both non-secure and secure (TLS), are listed below:

• HTTP: port 80
• HTTPS: port 443
• IMAP (standard): port 143
• IMAP (secure): port 993
• SMTP (standard): port 25
• SMTP (secure): port 587

SSL vs TLS

Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, was replaced by TLS. As a more safe method of encoding data transmissions, it was launched in 1999. SSL was backwards compatible with TLS 1.0 and 1.1 (released in 2006). This made the transfer process easier, but it also made security less secure because it enabled systems to use the less secure HTTPS choice.

TLS 1.2 did away with SSL backward support in 2008. Additionally, a better SHA-256 encryption method took the position of MD5-SHA-1 encryption. The 2018 release of TLS 1.3 brought several new security enhancements.