TLSDTLS

TLSDTLS is the commonly used shorthand for the set of cryptographic protocols Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS). These protocols provide confidentiality, integrity, and authentication for communications over a network, protecting data in transit between client and server across various applications and transport layers.

TLS originates from SSL and is standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It operates over reliable, connection-oriented transport and uses certificates to authenticate peers. The most widely adopted version today is TLS 1.3, which reduces round trips, removes legacy algorithms, and supports forward secrecy and authenticated encryption.

DTLS adapts TLS to datagram transports such as UDP, addressing issues arising from packet loss, reordering, and fragmentation. While preserving TLS security guarantees, DTLS includes mechanisms to cope with unreliable delivery and to resist replay attacks. DTLS is commonly used for real-time communications, VPNs, and DNS-based protocols.

Security considerations for TLSDTLS emphasize using current protocol versions, disabling deprecated features, and properly validating certificates. Organizations are advised to deploy TLS 1.2 or 1.3 and DTLS 1.2 where appropriate, with correct certificate management and strong cipher suites.

Implementations of TLS and DTLS are available in several libraries and platforms, including OpenSSL, BoringSSL, LibreSSL, GnuTLS, mbedTLS, and WolfSSL. These libraries provide APIs for both TLS and DTLS and are used by web servers, clients, messaging systems, and embedded devices.