The protocols we use to browse the Internet, to visit a web page or use Wi-Fi, are constantly changing. New ones are appearing to replace the older ones and thus improve the connection, security and general operation. But these changes, in many cases, tend to bring certain problems at least at first. This is what could happen with the change that Windows is going to introduce in a few weeks. Going to disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1. This can cause failures when visiting certain web pages.
Note that these two protocols are very old and they are outdated. Some browsers have gradually removed them. What happen? There are very old web pages that have not adapted to the new protocols and continue to use the old ones. Now, with this change, it might be impossible to access them from Windows.
Windows disables TLS 1.0 and 1.1
Logically there are very few websites They still use these old protocols. But they exist. You may come across some pages that have not been updated for a long time, but that you may use to search for old information or for something in particular. By letting Windows disable the TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols, you will not be able to enter those sites.
The TLS 1.0 protocol dates from 1999, while 1.1 is from 2006. The Internet has changed a lot since then, as well as the way we connect. From there, the TLS 1.2 and 1.3 protocols have appeared, which are the current and most secure. The vast majority of Internet pages are compatible with these latest protocols.
The reason that has led Microsoft to make this decision is the security. They indicate that they have detected certain security problems in these old versions. In addition, the use of the TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols has decreased a lot, so they believe that the time is right to disable them.
On the one hand, they expect security to increase by not having those protocols that can be used to launch attacks. On the other hand, they hope that this will also serve to accelerate the adoption of more modern protocols, such as the ones we have mentioned.
From September
This change will come from September, so we are a few weeks away from it happening. Websites that still use these old protocols have time ahead if they want to adapt and avoid problems for users to access. will start to be disabled in windows 11.
This, as we say, can make certain web pages stop working in Windows. A few years ago, ZDNET published an article where they claimed that there were still some 850,000 web pages in the world that used the TLS 1.0 or 1.1 protocol. In addition, 5,000 of those sites were part of the list of the million most visited websites.
It is true that, recently, due to the change that some browsers have already made, many websites have been adapting and updating to TLS 1.2 and 1.3. But there are still websites that are still using those older protocols and that’s where the problem is going to be as of September.
In short, just like the DNS protocol and many others, there is the TLS to be able to visit web pages. Starting in September, Windows is going to disable the two oldest versions, 1.0 and 1.1, to improve security. That can lead to problems when visiting some pages that have not adapted.
