Protokollspesifikk

Protokollspesifikk is a term used to describe elements, behaviors, or assumptions that are specific to a particular communication protocol. It is often employed in networking, software architecture, and cybersecurity to distinguish features that rely on the exact semantics of a given protocol from those that remain valid across multiple protocols.

In practice, protokollspesifikk aspects include message formats, state transitions, error handling, and security negotiations defined by the protocol specification. For example, HTTP has protokollspesifikk semantics for request methods, status codes, header interpretation, and the ways in which connections are established and reused. TCP introduces protokollspesifikke properties such as reliable byte streams, sequence numbering, congestion control, and the three-way handshake. TLS defines its own handshake sequence, cipher suite negotiation, and certificate verification procedures. DNS relies on its defined query/response structure and resource record types.

The concept is relevant for system design, interoperability testing, and security assessment. Recognizing protokollspesifikk requirements helps ensure correct interaction with other implementations of the same protocol and clarifies where generic, protocol-agnostic components may fall short. It also highlights potential protocol-specific vulnerabilities that may arise during negotiation, framing, or error handling.

Etymology-wise, the term is a compound of protokoll (protocol) and spesifikk (specific), reflecting its role in distinguishing protocol-bound details from more general, agnostic design approaches.