Ssl Vpn Security
Introduction
In recent years, various virtual private network (VPN) technologies have been widely used to provide secure site-to-site connectivity and remote access. There are many reasons for such overwhelming adoption and business success; two major factors are total ownership cost savings and productivity enhancements. The total ownership cost can be considered as the initial deployment cost plus the cost of user training, support, and facility maintenance over time. Productivity enhancements can be measured in terms of tool effectiveness, user time savings, usability improvements, and user satisfaction.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN is an emerging technology that provides remote-access VPN capability, using the SSL function that is already built into a modern web browser. SSL VPN allows users from any Internet-enabled location to launch a web browser to establish remote-access VPN connections, thus promising productivity enhancements and improved availability, as well as further IT cost reduction for VPN client software and support.
Additional VPN background information is widely available. This paper addresses security issues and challenges associated with SSL VPN, including general VPN security and specific SSL VPN security, as well as endpoint device security and information protection. Security mechanisms that can be used for risk mitigation are also discussed.
Advantages of SSL VPN
SSL VPN has some unique features when compared with other existing VPN technologies. Most noticeably, SSL VPN uses SSL protocol and its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), to provide a secure connection between remote users and internal network resources. Today, this SSL/TLS function exists ubiquitously in modern web browsers. Unlike traditional IP Security (IPSec) remote-access VPN technology, which requires installation of IPSec client software on a client machine before a connection can be established, users typically do not need to install client
In recent years, various virtual private network (VPN) technologies have been widely used to provide secure site-to-site connectivity and remote access. There are many reasons for such overwhelming adoption and business success; two major factors are total ownership cost savings and productivity enhancements. The total ownership cost can be considered as the initial deployment cost plus the cost of user training, support, and facility maintenance over time. Productivity enhancements can be measured in terms of tool effectiveness, user time savings, usability improvements, and user satisfaction.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN is an emerging technology that provides remote-access VPN capability, using the SSL function that is already built into a modern web browser. SSL VPN allows users from any Internet-enabled location to launch a web browser to establish remote-access VPN connections, thus promising productivity enhancements and improved availability, as well as further IT cost reduction for VPN client software and support.
Additional VPN background information is widely available. This paper addresses security issues and challenges associated with SSL VPN, including general VPN security and specific SSL VPN security, as well as endpoint device security and information protection. Security mechanisms that can be used for risk mitigation are also discussed.
Advantages of SSL VPN
SSL VPN has some unique features when compared with other existing VPN technologies. Most noticeably, SSL VPN uses SSL protocol and its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), to provide a secure connection between remote users and internal network resources. Today, this SSL/TLS function exists ubiquitously in modern web browsers. Unlike traditional IP Security (IPSec) remote-access VPN technology, which requires installation of IPSec client software on a client machine before a connection can be established, users typically do not need to install client