diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/network/INetworkSecurityConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/network/INetworkSecurityConfig.java
index 772ee9f..95c3efc 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/network/INetworkSecurityConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/network/INetworkSecurityConfig.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.security.KeyStore;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 public interface INetworkSecurityConfig {
 
@@ -52,9 +53,23 @@
     String getKeyStorePassword();
 
     /**
-     * Gets a trust store file to be used for validating certificates of secured connections.
+     * Gets the trust store to be used for validating certificates of secured connections
+     *
+     * @return the trust store to be used
+     */
+    KeyStore getTrustStore();
+
+    /**
+     * Gets a trust store file to be used if {@link INetworkSecurityConfig#getTrustStore()} returns null.
      *
      * @return the trust store file
      */
     File getTrustStoreFile();
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the password for the trust store file, if configured
+     *
+     * @return the password to the trust store file, if configured
+     */
+    Optional<String> getTrustStorePassword();
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityConfig.java
index 7f02830..5ebd282 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityConfig.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.security.KeyStore;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.network.INetworkSecurityConfig;
 
@@ -29,44 +30,52 @@
     private final File keyStoreFile;
     private final File trustStoreFile;
     private final String keyStorePassword;
-    private final KeyStore keyStore;
 
     private NetworkSecurityConfig(boolean sslEnabled, String keyStoreFile, String keyStorePassword,
-            String trustStoreFile, KeyStore keyStore) {
+            String trustStoreFile) {
         this.sslEnabled = sslEnabled;
         this.keyStoreFile = keyStoreFile != null ? new File(keyStoreFile) : null;
         this.keyStorePassword = keyStorePassword;
         this.trustStoreFile = trustStoreFile != null ? new File(trustStoreFile) : null;
-        this.keyStore = keyStore;
     }
 
     public static NetworkSecurityConfig of(boolean sslEnabled, String keyStoreFile, String keyStorePassword,
             String trustStoreFile) {
-        return new NetworkSecurityConfig(sslEnabled, keyStoreFile, keyStorePassword, trustStoreFile, null);
+        return new NetworkSecurityConfig(sslEnabled, keyStoreFile, keyStorePassword, trustStoreFile);
     }
 
-    public static NetworkSecurityConfig of(boolean sslEnabled, KeyStore keyStore, String keyStorePassword,
-            String trustStoreFile) {
-        return new NetworkSecurityConfig(sslEnabled, null, keyStorePassword, trustStoreFile, keyStore);
-    }
-
+    @Override
     public boolean isSslEnabled() {
         return sslEnabled;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public File getKeyStoreFile() {
         return keyStoreFile;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public String getKeyStorePassword() {
         return keyStorePassword;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public KeyStore getKeyStore() {
-        return keyStore;
+        return null;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public KeyStore getTrustStore() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public File getTrustStoreFile() {
         return trustStoreFile;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public Optional<String> getTrustStorePassword() {
+        return Optional.empty();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityManager.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityManager.java
index 0c8d429..e352260 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityManager.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-ipc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/ipc/security/NetworkSecurityManager.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
         this.config = config;
         if (config.isSslEnabled()) {
             System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStore", config.getTrustStoreFile().getAbsolutePath());
-            System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword", config.getKeyStorePassword());
+            config.getTrustStorePassword().ifPresent(pw -> System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword", pw));
         }
         sslSocketFactory = new SslSocketChannelFactory(this);
     }
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@
             KeyManagerFactory keyManagerFactory = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(defaultAlgorithm);
             TrustManagerFactory trustManagerFactory = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(defaultAlgorithm);
             keyManagerFactory.init(engineKeyStore, password);
-            final KeyStore trustStore = loadTrustStoreFromFile(password);
+            KeyStore trustStore = config.getTrustStore();
+            if (trustStore == null) {
+                trustStore =
+                        loadTrustStoreFromFile(config.getTrustStorePassword().map(String::toCharArray).orElse(null));
+            }
             trustManagerFactory.init(trustStore);
             SSLContext ctx = SSLContext.getInstance(TSL_VERSION);
             ctx.init(keyManagerFactory.getKeyManagers(), trustManagerFactory.getTrustManagers(), new SecureRandom());