NYDFS TLS Compliance: How to Secure Your Endpoints

The NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation requires covered entities to implement robust technical controls, including encryption in transit that meets industry standards. That means your TLS configuration is not just a best practice—it is a compliance mandate. Weak cipher suites, outdated protocol versions, or insecure certificate chains can trigger both security risks and regulatory violations.

Section 500.15 of the regulation specifies that nonpublic information must be protected with effective encryption. TLS 1.2 is the minimum practical baseline, and TLS 1.3 is strongly preferred. Any configuration allowing TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, or legacy ciphers like RC4 or 3DES is out of alignment. Perfect forward secrecy is expected, along with strict certificate validation and elimination of self-signed certs in production systems.

A proper NYDFS-ready TLS configuration should:

• Enforce TLS 1.2 or higher, with TLS 1.3 enabled where possible
• Disable all obsolete cipher suites and protocols
• Use strong modern ciphers such as AES-GCM or CHACHA20-POLY1305
• Require certificates signed by trusted CAs with SHA-256 or stronger
• Enable OCSP stapling for real-time revocation checking
• Set HSTS headers to prevent downgrade attacks

Configuration errors often come from default settings left unchecked. Dependencies, reverse proxies, load balancers, and CDN integrations can silently reintroduce weak ciphers. Compliance checks should scan every public-facing endpoint. Automated testing for TLS compliance and NYDFS alignment is not optional—it is part of your operational security.

A fail here is not theoretical. NYDFS has enforced its cybersecurity regulation aggressively, issuing penalties and requiring remediation reports. Secure TLS is one of the simplest controls to audit, but only if you run regular scans and harden after every change.

Get your configuration right before you get the alert. Test your TLS, validate each handshake, and keep your environment in step with NYDFS requirements.

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