IPSec and key management protocols
IPSec is a set of protocols designed to provide Virtual Private Network (VPN) functionality. We will talk about VPNs types and connectivity first before learning about the protocol. IPSec was first standardized in RFC 2401 (IETF, November 1998) and later became obsolete with RFC 4301 (ISTF, December 2005) and has been updated by other RFCs.
IPSec provides the following services:
- Confidentiality: By encrypting data between the sender and the receiver
- Integrity: By adding a hash function to the data
- Authentication: By providing authentication between the two ends
- Anti-Replay: By sequencing packets that are sent between the two ends
VPNs
A VPN is a way to establish a virtual connection over public infrastructure. Establishing a virtual connection is usually achieved by tunneling, which is a very common mechanism in data communications that encapsulates an internal packet into an external header that will carry it through...
