Sunday, January 25, 2015

What is VPN

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet.
A VPN is a network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organization's network. A VPN ensures privacy through security procedures and tunneling protocols such as the Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). Data is encrypted at the sending end and decrypted at the receiving end.

A well-designed VPN can greatly benefit a company. For example, it can:
1. Extend geographic connectivity
2. Reduce operational costs versus traditional WANs
3. Reduce transit times and traveling costs for remote users
4. Improve productivity
5. Simplify network topology
6. Provide global networking opportunities
7. Provide telecommuter support
8. Provide faster Return On Investment (ROI) than traditional WAN

What features are needed in a well-designed VPN? It should incorporate these items:
1. Security
2. Reliability
3. Scalability
4. Network Management
5. Policy Management
6. Security mechanisms

To prevent disclosure of private information, VPNs typically allow only authenticated remote access and make use of encryption techniques.
VPNs provide security by the use of tunneling protocols and through security procedures such as encryption.

The VPN security model provides:
1. Confidentiality such that even if the network traffic is sniffed at the packet level (see network sniffer and Deep packet inspection), an attacker would only see encrypted data.
2. Sender authentication to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the VPN.
3. Message integrity to detect any instances of tampering with transmitted messages.

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