Knock Knock Who's there - Do you know who is accessing your VPN?

A virtual private network is several security technologies. These include encryption, authentication, and key management. The idea of the virtual private network is to give users of your data access securely whether they are across town or on the other side of the world.

While VPNs secure data by encrypting the data across public networks, potential information security risks are your remote users' networks, PCs, systems, etc. How do we know who is on the other end of the VPN? How can we make sure that the person or device on the other end is who they say they are? The answer is strong authentication.

While there are several VPN solutions, this document will focus primarily on the IPSEC and IKE protocols standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Products based on IETF standards benefit from a rigorous peer review by the best minds in the business, which is particularly important when it comes to encryption. A secure VPN solution that is designed in accordance with standards will integrate with a user's existing network security infrastructure now and for years to come.