# Dissecting SSL handshake

DevFeed: [Dissecting SSL handshake](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/dissecting-ssl-handshake-38905.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://idea.popcount.org/2012-06-16-dissecting-ssl-handshake>)

Author: Marek

Published: 2012-06-15T22:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Marek Majkowski](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/marek-majkowski.md>)

Topics: [TLS handshake](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tls-handshake.md>), [SSL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ssl.md>), [TLS (Transport Layer Security)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tls.md>), [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/browser.md>), [client](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/client.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>)

Tags: [application](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/application.md>), [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/browser.md>), [deprecated](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/deprecated.md>), [privacy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/privacy.md>), [ssl](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ssl.md>), [tls](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tls.md>), [tls-handshake](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tls-handshake.md>)

## AI overview

This article examines the information exposed by the unencrypted SSL/TLS handshake, focusing on the ClientHello message. It describes fields such as the protocol version, client-generated random value, session identifier, supported cipher suites and compression methods, and discusses how these details may reveal client characteristics or enable identification, including through session reuse and cipher-suite ordering.

## Source excerpt

Dissecting SSL handshake Not everyone knows that the SSL handshake is not encrypted. When you think about it - there isn't other way, before the keys are exchanged the communication must be unencrypted. But I doubt many people think about it. Not only the SSL handshake is plain-text, but also it contains rather interesting data. I decided to find out how much information can be retrieved from it. TLS Here's how the TLS handshake works: Let's focus on the first message - .