IPSec is a framework of open standards for helping to ensure private, secure communications over Internet Protocol (IP) networks through the use of cryptographic security services. IPSec supports network-level data integrity, data confidentiality, data origin authentication, and replay protection. Because IPSec is integrated at the Internet layer (layer 3), it provides security for almost all protocols in the TCP/IP suite, and because IPSec is applied transparently to applications, there is no need to configure separate security for each application that uses TCP/IP. VCP-310  642-845 642-825 642-691
IPSec can be used to provide packet filtering, to encrypt and authenticate traffic between two hosts, and to create a virtual private network (VPN). Using these capabilities of IPSec helps to provide protection against:
Network-based denial-of-service attacks from untrusted computers.
Data corruption.
Data theft.
User-credential theft.
Administrative control of servers, other computers, and the network.
Besides simply improving security, IPSec can be used to save money by enabling communications between remote offices and remote access clients across the public Internet, rather than more costly dedicated circuits that offer privacy at the physical level.
You can use IPSec to encrypt and validate the integrity of communications between two computers. For example, IPSec can protect traffic between domain controllers in different sites, between Web servers and database servers, or between Web clients and Web servers. When an IPSec client attempts to initiate a connection to an IPSec server, the client and server negotiate IPSec integrity and encryption protocols. After the IPSec connection is established, the application’s data is transported within the IPSec connection.
For example, consider the common scenario of a user downloading e-mail from a server using Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3). If IPSec is not enabled, the e-mail client software initiates a connection directly to the e-mail server software. The user name and password will be transmitted in clear text, so that anyone with a protocol analyzer such as Network Monitor can intercept the user’s credentials. An attacker who has control of a router can modify the contents of the user’s e-mail messages as they are downloaded without being detected.
Now consider the same scenario with IPSec enabled. In this case, when the server receives the POP3 request from the e-mail client, it will send a message back to the client requesting an IPSec connection. The client will agree, and IPSec will negotiate encryption and integrity protocols. Then IPSec on the client computer will intercept the e-mail client’s network traffic, store it within encrypted IPSec packets, and send the data to the server using TCP/IP. IPSec on the server will receive the packets, decrypt the contents, and pass the e-mail client’s original communication to the e-mail server software. 70-270  642-453 70-649