TLS and FIPS Mode for OpenEdge SQL JDBC and ODBC clients

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines and maintains the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

For more information, see FIPS mode.

OpenEdge SQL clients and servers support FIPS mode compliance, extending security to Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections. The OpenEdge SQL ODBC or JDBC clients and OpenEdge SQL server can utilize TLS to secure end-to-end communication, which provides encoding, integrity, and authentication for data exchanged between client and server.

TLS handshake and cipher negotiation

To initiate a TLS session, both client and server perform a TLS handshake, during which they negotiate cryptographic algorithms to be used, such as encryption, hashing, and so on. The client can suggest specific ciphers through the ODBC or JDBC connection. If FIPS mode is enabled and the suggested ciphers are not FIPS-compliant, the handshake fails with an appropriate error. These measures ensure that only validated cryptographic standards are used in secure environments.