Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE)

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∟Java Programs Communicating with HTTPS Servers

∟Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE)

This section describes the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) that allows you to write Java programs to communicate with HTTPS Web servers.

If you want to write your own Java program to communicate with an HTTPS Web server, you should use the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) to help you.

The Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) enables secure Internet communications. It provides a framework and an implementation for a Java version of the SSL and TLS protocols and includes functionality for data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and optional client authentication. Using JSSE, developers can provide for the secure passage of data between a client and a server running any application protocol, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Telnet, or FTP, over TCP/IP.

JSSE includes the following important features:

Implemented in 100% Pure Java
Can be exported to most countries
Provides API support for SSL versions 2.0 and 3.0, and an implementation of SSL version 3.0
Provides API support and an implementation for TLS version 1.0
Includes classes that can be instantiated to create secure channels (SSLSocket, SSLServerSocket, and SSLEngine)
Provides support for cipher suite negotiation, which is part of the SSL handshaking used to initiate or verify secure communications
Provides support for client and server authentication, which is part of the normal SSL handshaking
Provides support for Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) encapsulated in the SSL protocol (HTTPS), which allows access to data such as web pages using HTTPS
Provides server session management APIs to manage memory-resident SSL sessions
Provides support for several cryptographic algorithms commonly used in cipher suites, including RSA, RC4, DES, Triple DES, AES, Diffie-Hellman, and DSA.