KICL supports connecting to a server via SSL and does so by default, connecting to servers on port 6697.

Client Certificates

You can set the public and private key utilized in the connection using the following methods:

ClientBuilder#secureKeyCertChain(File) // X.509 certificate chain file in PEM format

ClientBuilder#secureKey(File) // PKCS#8 private key file in PEM format

ClientBuilder#secureKeyPassword(String) // private key password

Validating the Server

By default, when connecting securely, KICL will utilize the default TrustManagerFactory provided by the JRE you're using. This factory does not accept certificates issued by many common certificate authorities (such as StartCom, which is used by many IRC networks) and self-signed certificates. If possible, you should consider importing the root certificates for these certificate authorities which will allow connections to be made.

KICL lets you set your own TrustManagerFactory in the ClientBuilder so you may let KICL connect to the network you desire. There is also the AcceptingTrustManagerFactory which, if you set it in the ClientBuilder, will blindly allow all connections through.

For certificate or key pinning, you currently must implement this yourself in your custom TrustManager, though discussions for adding a pinning API are underway.