TLS 1.3

TLS 1.3 is the latest version of the Transport Layer Security protocol, ratified by the IETF in August 2018. It represents a deliberate architectural simplification: legacy algorithms were removed, the handshake was reduced from two round trips to one (or zero in resumed sessions), and forward secrecy became mandatory. The design philosophy is subtraction as security — removing options that had become attack surfaces. The protocol is faster and more secure than TLS 1.2, but its adoption has been constrained by middlebox interference: network appliances that inspect TLS traffic often break when confronted with a protocol they do not recognize. TLS 1.3's history is a case study in how security evolution is limited not by cryptography but by the installed base of infrastructure.