diff --git a/google-protocol-buffer/pom.xml b/google-protocol-buffer/pom.xml
index b8114c99f783..bbeb725ebc92 100644
--- a/google-protocol-buffer/pom.xml
+++ b/google-protocol-buffer/pom.xml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
     </dependencies>
 
     <properties>
-        <protobuf.version>4.30.2</protobuf.version>
+        <protobuf.version>4.31.1</protobuf.version>
         <junit.jupiter.version>5.13.0-M2</junit.jupiter.version>
     </properties>
 
diff --git a/google-protocol-buffer/src/test/java/com/baeldung/bytearraybytestring/ByteArrayByteStringUnitTest.java b/google-protocol-buffer/src/test/java/com/baeldung/bytearraybytestring/ByteArrayByteStringUnitTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4bc6e27203fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/google-protocol-buffer/src/test/java/com/baeldung/bytearraybytestring/ByteArrayByteStringUnitTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package com.baeldung.bytearraybytestring;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotSame;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
+
+public class ByteArrayByteStringUnitTest {
+    
+    @Test
+    public void givenByteArray_whenModified_thenChangesPersist() {
+        // Here, we'll initialize a mutable buffer
+        byte[] data = new byte[4];
+
+        // We'll read data into the buffer
+        ByteArrayInputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(new byte[] { 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04 });
+        try {
+            inputStream.read(data);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+
+        // Note, the first byte is 1
+        assertEquals(1, data[0]);
+
+        // We can directly modify the first byte
+        data[0] = 0x05;
+
+        // The modification is persisted
+        assertEquals(5, data[0]);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void givenByteString_whenCreated_thenIsImmutable() {
+        // We'll create an immutable ByteString from a mutable byte array
+        byte[] originalArray = new byte[] { 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04 };
+        ByteString byteString = ByteString.copyFrom(originalArray);
+
+        // The value of the first byte is 1
+        assertEquals(1, byteString.byteAt(0));
+
+        // We'll try to modify the original array
+        originalArray[0] = 0x05;
+
+        // The ByteString's contents remain unchanged
+        assertEquals(1, byteString.byteAt(0));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void givenByteArray_whenCopiedToByteString_thenDataIsCopied() {
+        // We'll start with a mutable byte array
+        byte[] byteArray = new byte[] { 0x01, 0x02, 0x03 };
+
+        // Create a new ByteString from it
+        ByteString byteString = ByteString.copyFrom(byteArray);
+
+        // We'll assert that the data is the same
+        assertEquals(byteArray[0], byteString.byteAt(0));
+
+        // Here, we change the original array
+        byteArray[0] = 0x05;
+
+        // Note, the ByteString remains unchanged, confirming the copy
+        assertEquals(1, byteString.byteAt(0));
+        assertNotSame(byteArray, byteString.toByteArray());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void givenByteString_whenConvertedToByteArray_thenDataIsCopied() {
+        // We'll start with an immutable ByteString
+        ByteString byteString = ByteString.copyFromUtf8("Baeldung");
+
+        // We create a mutable byte array from it
+        byte[] byteArray = byteString.toByteArray();
+
+        // The byte array now has a copy of the data
+        assertEquals('B', (char) byteArray[0]);
+
+        // We change the new array
+        byteArray[0] = 'X';
+
+        // The original ByteString remains unchanged
+        assertEquals('B', (char) byteString.byteAt(0));
+        assertNotSame(byteArray, byteString.toByteArray());
+    }
+}