TLS 1.0 Disablement: What You Need to Know

Don’t know about you, but we’re so excited that it’s finally spring. Depending on where you live (all over the world, according to our data!), snow is melting, birds are chirping and the chill of winter is finally wearing off.

For some of us, spring also marks the time for spring cleaning — a time for getting rid of unnecessary clutter and preparing for the year ahead. In honor of this event, we’re showing our love of securing your data by disabling TLS 1.0 in favor of more secure versions 1.1 or higher. Wait…what?

What is TLS?

To align with security industry best practices and protect the safety of your data, Salesforce is requiring an upgrade to TLS 1.1 or higher by July 22, 2017. On that date, we will disable TLS 1.0. This disablement will impact your Salesforce environment, so it’s best to prepare in advance (sooner rather than later) for this change.

You’re probably wondering, what is TLS? Simply put, it’s an encryption protocol that helps us, and other technology vendors, keep your data safe. In order to keep doing this, we must keep the Salesforce product compatible with current versions of TLS encryption. According to industry standards, it’s time for an update!

How Do I Prepare?

In order to keep your Salesforce environment running with zero user interruption, you must be prepared to use TLS versions 1.1 or higher by July 22, 2017. Though the level of impact and action required will vary based on your Salesforce environment, not transitioning on time could cause disruption in service areas such as:

• User browser access to Salesforce
• API integrations
• Email integration products (Lightning for Outlook, Lightning Sync, Salesforce for Outlook)
• Communities and Sites

The transition will happen for all customers at the same time on July 22nd, and as long as you’ve already made the proper updates, there will be no downtime to your environment when we flip the switch to TLS 1.1.

We know—the thought of your sales team not being able to access Salesforce for any amount of time and bringing business to a halt is unsettling. The last thing we want is for your internal customers (or boss) calling and asking why they can’t access their accounts. Which is why we’ve put together a ton of info to help you with this transition.

How to Make Your Transition Successful

The trick is: plan early and get started soon. Many of the Salesforce products and developer tools are already compatible with TLS 1.1 and higher, so this transition is necessary and will improve security across the board for you and your users.

For specific instructions on how to make the change from TLS 1.0, read this helpful What You Need to Know article. More detailed information can also be found in the following resources:

• Listen to the experts talk about how TLS disablement affects your Org during our weekly webinar series (register here)
• TLS 1.0 Disablement Readiness Checklist (PDF) for best practices on how to prepare for this change
• Ask questions and share best practices within the Official: Salesforce Infrastructure Success Community Group