One type of Virtual Private Network (VPN) is one that takes advantage of SSL (Secure Socket Layer). SSL VPNs use protocol TCP 443, which helps to avoid running into firewall issues. VPNs are used for end users to create a secure tunnel between their device and the corporate network.
VPN is generally easy to set up. You assign authentication credentials to a user. You don’t necessarily need to deploy digital certificates or shared passwords like IPSec. Many SSL VPNs can run from inside a browser or the VPN capability might already be built into the operating system. You simply provide the username and password and the IP address you want to connect to.
SSL VPN tunnels are also known as client to site VPNs or remote access VPN. This is because you can be anywhere remotely in the world and still be able to communicate securely back to your corporate network. Your remote workstation uses a secure tunnel through the Internet to connect to your corporate VPN concentrator. If anyone were to capture packets from the communication between your remote workstation and VPN concentrator, all they would see is encrypted data. The VPN concentrator then decrypts the information and sends the data to the corporate network. The corporate network can then send information back to the VPN concentrator which encrypts the traffic and sends it back to your remote workstation. The remote workstation then decrypts the information.
- Use encrypted tunnels between a computer (or remote network) to create a private network through the Internet.
- PPTP VPN: Advanced version of PPP (used for dial up Internet) that handles IP addressing right out of the box. Microsoft places the PPTP endpoints on the client and a special remote access server program called Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS).
- When your computer connects to the RRAS server on the private network, PPTP creates a secure tunnel through the Internet back to the private LAN. You client takes on an IP address of that network, as if your computer were plugged into the LAN back in the office.
