TLS and MTLS: Introduction to Modern Security

A constant presence in our lives for nearly 25 years, TLS is a cornerstone of modern security practice — especially in a zero-trust world. In cloud native, mTLS comes up every time service meshes get mentioned. Even so, both these technologies are still sources of endless questions. How do they work? How are they related? What problems do they solve – and which others do they not solve? How does it relate to end-user auth? What's all this stuff with certificates anyway? And why should you care about these things? Thankfully, answering these questions isn't that complex.

Sandeep and Andrew—both Deaf & Hard of Hearing WG members—discuss what TLS and mTLS are, what they do, how they work, why they matter as standards, and what nearly 25 years of attacking them have to say about security. They use Linkerd as an example, but this talk applies to any situation involving mTLS or TLS, no matter the implementation.