Striking just the right firewall match

✍ Scribed by Helen Meyer

• Book ID: 104298220
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 134 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-4048
• DOI: 10.1016/s0167-4048(97)88127-8

✦ Synopsis

an interface to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Digital Equipment Corp. is replacing the remote access network used by its sales force with a VPDN. To create its VPDN,DEC used Alta Vista Tunnel,its own Internet security software. As the name suggests, the package makes it possible to establish an encrypted 'tunnel' through the Internet for DEC applications. It does this by encrypting and encapsulating packets within TCP/IF? It requires authentication software on the server, as well as client software. Although most tunnelling software is independent of network infrastructure, it exacts a performance penalty. That is because the system must encrypt and encapsulate each packet. Security has to instill confidence without adding a huge administrative burden. Kerberos, for example, has not been widely deployed because its access lists are too difficult to maintain. Private or public key distribution is an enormous headache. Performance is another factor that may dissuade net managers from moving to VPDNs. Data