TLS v1.2 FAQs
Why Do I Need to Implement TLS v1.2 or Higher?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for safeguarding payment data requires a more secure encryption protocol which includes the TLS v1.1 or higher (TLS v1.2 is the RBC Standard).
What is TLS?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol used to establish a secure communications channel between two systems. It is used to authenticate one or both systems, and protect the confidentiality and integrity of information that passes between systems. It was originally developed as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) by Netscape in the early 1990s. Standardized by the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF), TLS has undergone several revisions to improve security to block known attacks and add support for new cryptographic algorithms, with major revisions to SSL 3.0 in 1996, TLS v1.0 in 1990, TLS v1.1 in 2006, and TLS v1.2 in 2008.
Why is RBC Making This Change to Support Only TLS v1.2 or Later?
RBC is committed to ensuring the highest standard of privacy and security and as such is discontinuing support of TLS v1.0 and v1.1 in accordance with PCI Data Security standards and RBC Best practices.
Will The Change Affect Me?
You will be impacted if your application does not support TLS v1.2. If you don’t update your email servers to TLS v1.2 RBC can’t ensure an encrypted connection between our email service and yours. This means that you will still be able to send to and receive emails from RBC, but without encryption, unauthorized parties may be able to access the data in your message.
How can I Tell If My Site Is TLS v1.2?
Please consult with your Hosted Service Provider and or Technical Email Administrator. If you are technically inclined you can refer to this public site to look up your email domain.
https://www.checkTLS.com/TestReceiver(opens new window)