Virtual Private Networks

July 31st,
2011

Virtual Private
Networks (VPN)
Research on the use and implementation
of Virtual Private Networks in business
environments.

Instituto Politecnico Internacional
Second Quarter 2011
Class:
Seguridad Informatica (TEGTSR25)

Professor:
Rafael Garcia-C

Student:
David Franco-V

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Table of Contents

Virtual Private Networks
► Virtual Private Networks atGlance.......................................................... 2
► Virtual Private Networks at Work............................................................. 3
► Virtual Private Network Security .............................................................. 6
► IP Sec ...................................................................................................... 9
► VPN ImplementationReference ............................................................ 10
► The future of Virtual Private Networks................................................... 13

Virtual Private Networks

David Franco

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► Virtual Private Networks at Glance
•

In the last decade, we’ve witnessed a growing need of both business and
employees to be constantly connected to their enterprises nomatter what the
time of the day or their location around the Earth is; especially considering that in
a global economy time is synonym of money.

•

That’s when a virtual private network comes in handy, acting as a mechanism for
enterprises to allow for reliable, secure and private connections through the
Internet. VPNs utilize different means of encryption to keep unauthorized users
fromaccessing the network.

•

VPN connections can be used to securely transport any kind of IP traffic,
including voice, video and data.

Virtual private networks can provide businesses with a secure tunnel through Wide Area Networks, such
as the Internet, for tele-workers and branch offices spread around the globe.

•

A VPN protocol encapsulates network data transfers using a securecryptographic method between two or more network devices which are not in the
same private LAN, avoiding possible packet captures passing through a WAN.

Credit: Wikipedia.org

Virtual Private Networks

David Franco

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► Virtual Private Networks at Work
W hat is a VPN?
•

Virtual private networks, commonly referred as VPNs, consist of a computer
network that uses publictelecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet to
provide secure access to an individual or a remote office to the corporate
network from their respective organizations.

•

VPNs aim to avoid expensive leased lines that can only be used by the same
organization, while maintaining high security standards across the network.

V ariations o f Virtual Private N etworks
Site-to-Site VPNs

•These are connections used to connect remote locations to a central location.

•

A site-to-site VPN is an extension of a classic WAN networking, as entire
networks connect to each other. For example, the network can connect a branch
to the headquarters of the organization.

•

On a this kind of VPN, hosts send and receive TCP / IP traffic through a VPN
gateway, which can be a router,a PIX firewall application or an Adaptable
Security Application (ASA).

•

The gateway is responsible for the encapsulation and encryption for all outbound
traffic from a particular site and it is sent through a VPN tunnel over the Internet
to a VPN gateway pair in the target site. Upon receipt, the gateway removes the
headers, decodes the content and retransmits the packet to the targethost within
their private network.

Virtual Private Networks

David Franco

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•

Because most organizations already use the Internet as their main mean of
communication, a VPN site-to-site makes sense, as its implementation is
relatively simple in existing networks.

• There are two types of site-to-site VPNs:
o Internet-based:


If a company has one or more remote...