What is Transport Layer Security?

Transport layer security, or TLS is a protocol that ascertains privacy among the communicating applications and their users over the internet. When a server and a client communicate, TLS protocol ensures that no third party may eavesdrop or impacts on the data integrity. TLS is the successor of Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It guarantees about privacy, integrity and protection of the data which is transmitted between the two different nodes.

TLS protocol is composed of two different protocols:

TLS Handshake Protocol: It enables the client and server to authenticate each other and select an encryption algorithm before sending the data
TLS Record Protocol: This protocol works on the top of standard TCP protocol, which guarantees about the connection is secure and reliable. It also offers data encapsulation and data encryption services.