Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) Research Paper

Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) - Research Paper ExampleIn order to fasten earnest of reading over the Internet various security measure technologies conduct been proposed that usually work on the higher layers of the OSI model and provide security in terms of authentication, confidentiality, integrity and availability. IPSec is one such security technology that operates on the IP layer and provides confidentiality, integrity and authentication. As it operates at the IP layer, its implementation provides security in the higher layers as well. And its implementation is such that the existing setup of Internet does not have to be changed in order to implement it. This report presents an overview of the IPSec technology. It discusses the general architecture of the technology, briefly covering its technological details and its operation modes. Furthermore the report discusses how IPSec can be integrated into the existing Internet setup. 1. universe The security of information is defined by four attributes confidentiality, integrity, privacy and availability (Adeyinka, 2008). In the past, when computers were not that commonalty a commodity let alone the Internet, virtual private networks were formed through installation of give leased terms between the hosts e.g. networking of remote offices (Liska, 2003). Figure 1 Dedicated Leased Lines VPN Since these lease lines were private the information sent or retrieved remained within the related parties and so the communication was fast and secure. Thus private networks were formed. moreover the setup was costly and very few companies could afford it. Later on, in order to accommodate the mobile users, the companies installed dedicated remote dial-in servers (Remote Access Servers) that had modem(s) each connected to a separate dedicated phone line (Liska, 2003). Figure 2 Dial-up VPN Although the networking was achieved, yet the effort was not that useful as the speed of these networks was very slow. With t he coming of the Internet and its global web servers that provided larger and easier coming worldwide, the use of leased lines became an expensive burden and remained exceptional to very few resourceful companies. In view to the easy access to worldwide communication grant by the Internet, the element of security somewhat lost its significance and every other school, office, company and worry sought out to be connected through the Internet. The instances of some serious cyber crimes (Cyber Crime Stories) led to the realisation that the Internet is not at all secure. Being a public medium, the information sent crosswise the Internet in the form of data packets passes through various networks until they reach their intended destination. Since the Internet protocol (IP) offers no built-in security, this plain text data in the IP datagram cannot be prevented from unauthorized access from the public network. Any third party can easily inspect, even modify or spawn false data and compromise system security. For instance the passwords that are sent can be introduce and looked into (packet-sniffing), IP packets