SRTP (Secure RTP, RFC 3711) is the security layer that wraps RTP and RTCP with encryption and message authentication, so media can't be eavesdropped or tampered with on the wire. It encrypts the payload and authenticates each packet while leaving the headers usable, so routers and the jitter buffer can still do their jobs. In WebRTC, SRTP is mandatory and its keys are negotiated via DTLS, which means every browser-based call is encrypted between the peers by default — there is no unencrypted mode. For an engineer, SRTP is mostly invisible until a key-exchange or certificate problem causes a call to connect but carry no audio.
The book · Volume 4 of 7
Audio for Video: A Complete Guide to Sound in Video Products: From PCM and Codecs to Loudness, Accessibility, and Real-Time Voice Processing
SRTP encrypts every WebRTC audio packet by default, which matters for privacy and for anyone who needs to record or inspect calls. This volume walks through the WebRTC audio pipeline that SRTP wraps, from capture through AEC, noise suppression, AGC and Opus encoding, so you know what is protected and where processing happens. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
Need SRTP-encrypted audio while still recording or processing your calls?
Tell us your compliance and recording needs and we will design where to terminate SRTP, process audio and store recordings securely. 250+ video products shipped since 2005.
