Data security can be generally divided into two categories: Data-at-Rest and Data-in-Transit. Just as they sound, data-at-rest is data that is sitting on your computer, a server, or anywhere else you keep your data. Data-in-transit, however, is that same data when it moves from location to location (e.g. downloading a file, receiving email, etc). SSL/TLS protects Data-in-transit.
Note: TLS (Transport Layer Security) has replaced SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) as the standard, but they are still referred to interchangeably in most cases.
You usually see TLS in your web browser. When you navigate to an HTTPS site or see the lock icon in your browser URL bar: that indicates that the site you’re navigating to is encrypted with TLS. TLS is a public key encryption is a process that ensures that all data-in-transit is fully encrypted and secure between the server and the user. You must first obtain a public/private key pair (also known as a certificate) from a trusted TLS authority. We recommend taking a look at CloudFlare or your own hosting provider when looking for a new certificate.
Implementing TLS is often an easy task and well worth the time invested. Coalition recommends all insureds upgrade all their websites to use only TLS encryption.