| Netscape developed the first version of SSL in 1995. |
The first version of TLS was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 1999. |
| SSL is a cryptographic protocol that uses explicit connections to establish secure communication between web server and client. |
TLS is also a cryptographic protocol that provides secure communication between web server and client via implicit connections. It’s the successor of SSL protocol. |
| SSL is less secured as compared to TLS. |
TLS provides high level of security. |
| Support for Fortezza cipher suite. |
Does not offer support for Fortezza cipher suite. However, TLS follows a better standardization process that makes defining of new cipher suites easier like RC4, Triple DES, AES, IDEA, etc. |
| Message digest is used to create master secret— the symmetric key used for encryption between the Protocol Client and Protocol Server. |
Pseudo-random function is used to create master secret key. |
| Message Authentication Code protocol is used. |
Hashed Message Authentication Code protocol is used. |