QUIC is Here! RFC 9000

After six years of development, the RFC's around the QUIC protocol have arrived. (Welcome to the world, QUIC!)

Actually, QUIC has been here as a draft for several years, particularly with Google services and chromium based browsers. The protocol has slowly evolved to include built-in TLS 1.3, HTTP/3, and TCP-like flow control and reliability.

The new RFC is not just one document, but four. Let's list them here:

RFC 8999 - Version Independent Properties of QUIC

RFC 9000 - QUIC: A UDP-Based Multiplexed and Secure Transport

RFC 9001 - Using TLS 1.3 to Secure QUIC

RFC 9002 - QUIC Loss Detection and Congestion Control

Now pawing through four RFC's is not typically the most exciting of afternoons, however there are things the protocol that is very important to understand. Especially since web-based services all over the world are starting to deliver their services using QUIC. A few of the small (ha!) ones include Google, YouTube, Facebook, Uber, and Cloudflare, all supporting it by default if the browser can do the same.

This means that every packet head, network engineer, developer, and security professional should get a handle on how QUIC works. Let's take a look at an intro to QUIC in this video.

For a deeper dive into QUIC, with hands-on examples and walk-throughs, check out my Protocol Deep Dive: QUIC course on Pluralsight as well - https://www.bit.ly/wiresharkquic

Chris Greer is a Network Analyst for Packet Pioneer. He teaches courses for Wireshark University and consults for companies all over the world at the packet level. You can get in touch here.