CipherSuite

A CipherSuite object defines a cipher specification supported in SSL and TLS. SSL has been succeeded by TLS for most uses. The set of algorithms that cipher suites usually contain include: a key exchange algorithm, a bulk encryption algorithm, and a message authentication code (MAC) algorithm. The CipherSuite class declares static CipherSuite member variables that you can specify in your application when setting the SSL/TLS context you are using. Each cipher suite has a unique name that is used to identify it and to describe the algorithmic contents of it. Each segment in a cipher suite name stands for a different algorithm or protocol.


An example of a cipher suite name:

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

See below for the meaning of this name.

Acronym

Description

TLS

The protocol that this cipher suite is for (usually TLS)

ECDHE

The key exchange algorithm

RSA

The authentication mechanism for handshake

AES

The session cipher

128

The session encryption key size (bits) for cipher.

GCM

The type of encryption (cipher-block dependency and additional options).

SHA

The SHA2 hash function. For a digest of 256 and higher.

256

The digest size (bits).

With some restrictions, you can also define your own CipherSuite, using the CipherSuite constructor. Refer to the Javadoc reference for more information.