Microsoft Starts TLS 1.3 Encryption In Windows 10 By Default

Microsoft has announced that the TLS 1.3 encryption protocol is now activated as standard in all Windows 10 builds from build number 20170. That probably means that from autumn Windows 10 could fully support TLS 1.3 by default.

At the beginning of July, Microsoft had already started a new pre-release version of Windows 10 Version 2009 and, according to the company, activated an experimental implementation of TLS 1.3 by default. From build number 20170, this applies to all Windows Insiders who are using this or a newer version.

Not just better security

Now Microsoft has published an extensive explanation of the change. In the security blog, the enterprise and OS security team explain why TLS 1.3 not only affects security aspects but will also improve performance. In addition, the new TLS version improves data protection by using a minimal set of plain text protocol bits, as less user information is visible on the network.

TLS 1.3 is now enabled by default in IIS / HTTP.SYS. The web browsers Microsoft Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer 11 already support the protocol introduced in 2018, with Microsoft also relying on the standard activation there. With the Chromium-based Edge, TLS 1.3 support is also provided by default.

No schedule known

Activating TLS 1.3 in newer Windows 10 builds is the first step towards broader adoption of the security protocol on Windows 10. The company has not yet revealed when it plans to activate it in stable versions of Windows 10. It could be ready in autumn with the upcoming Windows 10 version 20H2 update. However, the global corona pandemic in early 2020 delayed the removal of the older logs. Microsoft had postponed the original plans to disable TLS 1.0 / 1.1 by default.