Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) Research Paper

Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) - Research Paper Example In order to ensure security of information over the Internet various security technologies have 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 technical details and its operation modes. Furthermore the report discusses how IPSec can be integrated into the existing Internet setup. 1. Introduction The security of information is defined by four attributes; confidentiality, integrity, privacy and a vailability (Adeyinka, 2008). In the past, when computers were not that common a commodity let alone the Internet, virtual private networks were formed through installation of dedicated leased lines 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. But 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 the advent of the Internet and its global web servers that provided larger and ea sier access worldwide, the use of leased lines became an expensive burden and remained limited to very few resourceful companies. In view to the easy access to worldwide communication granted by the Internet, the element of security somewhat lost its significance and every other school, office, company and business sought out to be connected through the Internet. The instances of some serious cyber crimes (â€Å"Cyber Crime Stories†) led to the realization that the Internet is not at all secure. Being a public medium, the information sent across 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 generate false data and compromise system security. For instance the passwords that are sent can be tracked and looked into (packet-sniffing), IP packets