[[ciphers]]
=== Enabling Cipher Suites for Stronger Encryption

The TLS and SSL 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 encrypted
communication.

The _Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy
Files_ enable the use of 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 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html[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 {security}, configure the `cipher_suites`
parameter. See the {ref}/security-settings.html#ssl-tls-settings[Configuration Parameters for TLS/SSL]
section of this document for specific parameter information.

NOTE: The _JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files_ must be installed
      on all nodes in the cluster to establish an improved level of encryption
      strength.