Securing your website with SSL/TLS is paramount in today's digital landscape. Beyond just obtaining a certificate, proper configuration and ongoing maintenance are crucial for maintaining strong security and optimal performance. This section outlines best practices to ensure your Nginx server is configured for robust SSL/TLS encryption.
- Choose Strong SSL/TLS Protocols and Ciphers:
It's essential to disable older, insecure protocols like SSLv2, SSLv3, and TLSv1.0/1.1, which are vulnerable to various attacks. Focus on enabling TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3, the current industry standards offering significant security improvements. Similarly, select strong, modern cipher suites that provide robust encryption without compromising performance.
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;- Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS):
HSTS is a security policy mechanism that helps protect websites against protocol downgrade attacks and cookie hijacking. By sending the Strict-Transport-Security header, you instruct browsers to only communicate with your server over HTTPS, even if a user attempts to access it via HTTP. This is a critical step for ensuring users always connect securely.
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;The max-age directive specifies how long the browser should remember to only connect via HTTPS. includeSubDomains ensures this policy applies to all subdomains, and preload allows you to submit your site to browser preloaded lists for even faster HTTPS enforcement.
- Optimize SSL/TLS Session Resumption: