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The handshake authenticates the server through a certificate chain, agrees on keys with an ephemeral exchange, and switches to symmetric encryption because it is far faster. Skip the certificate check and a machine in the middle (MITM) can answer in the server's place, decrypt everything, and forward it on. Forward secrecy means recording traffic today and stealing the key tomorrow reveals nothing. Certificate pinning, mTLS, and SNI are the follow-up questions.
TLS aims to authenticate the endpoint and protect data in transit with confidentiality and integrity. In a typical web connection, the client validates a certificate chain for the requested hostname and negotiates keys. The details depend on TLS version and configuration, but modern handshakes use ephemeral key exchange to establish secrets and symmetric cryptography to protect application records efficiently.
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