DTLS, or Datagram Transport Layer Security, is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide secure communications over unreliable networks such as the internet. Based on the more commonly used Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, which secures communication sessions between web browsers and servers, DTLS is tailored to support datagram-based applications that require low latency and high speed. Unlike TLS, which is used with connection-oriented protocols like TCP, DTLS is used with connectionless protocols like UDP. This makes it particularly useful for applications such as VoIP, online gaming, and streaming media, where fast data transmission is crucial and a few lost or out-of-order packets are tolerable. By incorporating encryption, authentication, and data integrity checks, DTLS ensures that data packets transmitted between parties remain confidential and unaltered, mitigating the risks of eavesdropping, data tampering, and impersonation attacks.