What do SSL and TLS primarily provide?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) primarily provide data transfer authentication along with encryption to ensure secure communication over a network, typically the internet. They are cryptographic protocols designed to protect data transmitted between clients and servers, ensuring that the data remains confidential and intact during transfer.

When SSL and TLS are implemented, they authenticate the identity of the communicating parties through certificates, helping to prevent impersonation (man-in-the-middle attacks). This validation process allows clients to verify the legitimacy of the server they are connecting to, establishing trust in secure transactions, such as online banking or shopping.

While SSL and TLS contribute to user authentication indirectly—by ensuring that only legitimate parties can communicate—they do not directly provide user authentication in the way that, for example, username and password mechanisms do. Instead, their primary role is in securing the data as it moves across the network while authenticating the sender and receiver of that data, reinforcing trust in the connection.