Microsoft is continuing to remove support for the older TLS (Transport Layer Security) versions 1.0 and 1.1 from its apps and services. Today, the company revealed that all Microsoft Azure accounts, both new and existing, will no longer support TLS 1.0 and 1.1 starting on November 1, 2024.
In a blog post, Microsoft stated that Azure Storage supports TLS 1.0 and 1.1 just for backward compatibility features. However, the more recent TLS 1.2 is supported on Azure accounts on public HTTPS endpoints and is faster and more secure than versions 1.0 and 1.2. It added:
TLS 1.0 and 1.1 do not support modern cryptographic algorithms and cipher suites. Many of the Azure storage customers are already using TLS 1.2 and we are sharing this guidance to expedite the transition for customers currently on TLS 1.0 and 1.1.
Microsoft is urging Azure Storage account holders to migrate to TLS 1.2, if they have not already done so, by October 31, 2024. Customers who might need help transferring from TLS 1.0 and 1.1 to 1.2 can go to this dedicated website for more information.
In case you are unfamiliar with TLS, it is the most popular internet protocol that is used to encrypt communications from a client to a server and vice versa.
Microsoft is slowly getting rid of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 in its Windows operating system. In September 2023, the company announced that Windows 11 Insider Preview builds from that point on will have TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 disabled by default on the OS. There are options to re-enable support for those older TLS versions if users, particularly enterprise customers, still need backward compatibility.
Microsoft previously removed support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 from its Edge web browser in 2020. It disabled support for those protocals in Microsoft Internet Explorer and EdgeHTML in September 2022.