Systems and methods are provided for confidential communication management. For instance, a server computer can include a protected server key identifier in a response message to a client computer. The protected server key identifier can include a server key identifier that identifies a server private key used to encrypt the response message. The client computer can pass the protected server key back in a subsequent request, so that the server computer can identify the proper server private key to use for decrypting the request message. In another example, a message may include encrypted protocol data (e.g., cipher suite) and separately encrypted payload data. The encrypted payload data can include a plurality of individually encrypted payload data elements.