TLS 1.3 for engineers: An exploration of the TLS 1.3 specification and OpenJDK's Java implementation

TL;DR

This paper explores TLS 1.3, the latest encryption protocol, and examines its implementation in OpenJDK's Java, aiming to enhance understanding of its technical features and practical deployment.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of TLS 1.3 specifications and evaluates its implementation in OpenJDK Java, offering insights into modern encryption practices.

Findings

TLS 1.3 improves security and performance over previous versions.

OpenJDK's Java implementation closely follows RFC 8446 specifications.

Enhanced understanding of TLS 1.3's technical features for developers and engineers.

Abstract

The Internet delivered in excess of forty terabytes per second in 2017 (Cisco, 2018), and over half of today's Internet traffic is encrypted (Sandvine, 2018); enabling trade worth trillions of dollars (Statista, 2017). Yet, the underlying encryption technology is only understood by a select few. This manuscript broadens understanding by exploring TLS, an encryption technology used to protect application layer communication (including HTTP, FTP and SMTP traffic), and by examining Oracle's Java implementation. We focus on the most recent TLS release, namely, version 1.3, which is defined by RFC 8446.