Effective September 1, 2016; New Web Browser Security Requirements

Web Browsers and Systems are Required to Support TLS 1.2

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is advising all DEA registrants of pending changes to DEA’s Office of Diversion Control websites.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council recommend that users, including Federal agencies, upgrade their browsers and systems to software supporting Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 or higher. The DEA will comply with this recommendation in order to ensure protection of data transmitted through DEA-owned information technology infrastructure.

After August 31, 2016, all users are required to utilize browsers with TLS version 1.2 or higher when accessing DEA Office of Diversion Control websites. You may need to update your operating system and/or internet browser to continue to access these sites.

The largest population of users expected to be impacted by this change are users implementing unsupported versions of the Windows operating system (Vista and earlier versions) and those using Internet Explorer Version 9 or earlier. Other browsers and operating systems may be affected — check with the software manufacturer to make certain that TLS 1.2 is supported and enabled on your system.