Enabling Cipher Suites for Stronger Encryption

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Enabling Cipher Suites for Stronger Encryption

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The SSL/TLS protocols use a cipher suite that determines the strength of encryption used to protect the data. You may want to increase the strength of encryption used when using a Oracle JVM; the IcedTea OpenJDK ships without these restrictions in place. This step is not required to successfully use Shield.

The Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files enable additional cipher suites for Java in a separate JAR file that you need to add to your Java installation. You can download this JAR file from Oracle’s download page. The JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files are required for encryption with key lengths greater than 128 bits, such as 256-bit AES encryption.

After installation, all cipher suites in the JCE are available for use. To enable the use of stronger cipher suites with Shield, configure the ciphers parameter. See the Configuration Parameters for TLS/SSL section of this document for specific parameter information.

The JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files must be installed on all nodes to establish an improved level of encryption strength.