Java Secure Socket Extension

The Java™ Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) is the Java implementation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. JSSE uses SSL and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol to enable clients and servers to conduct secure communications over TCP/IP.

JSSE provides the following functions:

• Encrypts data
• Authenticates remote user IDs
• Authenticates remote system names
• Performs client/server authentication
• Ensures message integrity

Integrated into the Java 2 Software Development Kit, Standard Edition (J2SDK), version 1.4 and subsequent releases, JSSE provides more functionality than does SSL alone.

• Using SSL (JSSE, version 1.0.8)
  SSL provides a means of authenticating a server and a client to provide privacy and data integrity. All SSL communications begin with a "handshake" between the server and the client. During the handshake, SSL negotiates the cipher suite that the client and server use to communicate with each other. This cipher suite is a combination of the various security features available through SSL. You can only use SSL with J2SDK, version 1.3. You can use the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE, version 1.0.8), which is the Java implementation of secure sockets layer (SSL), to make your Java application more secure.
• Using Java Secure Socket Extension
  JSSE is like a framework that abstracts the underlying mechanisms of both SSL and TLS. By abstracting the complexity and peculiarities of the underlying protocols, JSSE enables programmers to use secure, encrypted communications while at the same time minimizing possible security vulnerabilities. This information applies only to using JSSE on iSeries™ servers that run J2SDK, version 1.4 and subsequent releases. Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) uses both the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol to provide secure, encrypted communications between your clients and servers.