IP Technologies White Papers

Using IPSec to Construct Secure Virtual Private Networks

• Tags:
• ip technologies,
• path,
• flow,
• protocols

Overview Traditional corporate networks were often administered by their owners, data traveled over private facilities, and very little traffic left or entered the corporate network. In such self-contained environments, these networks were generally considered to be secure. VPNs will extend the reach of the classical corporate network, exploiting the global span of the public Internet rather than relying on private backbones. However, there will be many significant challenges. No single entity owns the Internet or sets its policies. Data from many different sources will flow through its common backbone infrastructure and within its routers. As e-business proliferates, more and more data will flow between companies. This model differs radically from that of the traditional self-contained, self-administered corporate network.

Within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the IP Security (IPSec) working group has developed a framework for network layer security. IPSec protocols will support data origin authentication, data integrity, data confidentiality, key management, and management of security associations. IPSec is a flexible framework for providing network layer security. Earlier security protocols often protected a portion of an end-to-end path, or they forced you to impose the same protection everywhere along the path. IPSec provides complete end-to-end network layer security, while giving you the opportunity to tailor the security coverage on a segment-by-segment basis along any given path.

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