Internet Protocol Security, which is commonly known
as IPsec, is a set of protocols for secure Internet Protocol (IP) communications.
It works by validating and coding
(encrypting) every IP packet of a communication session. IPsec comprises
of protocols for establishing mutual
validation between agents at the initiation of the session and
negotiation of cryptographic keys to
be used throughout the session. IPsec can be used in securing the transmission
of data between a pair of hosts, like host to host; between a pair of security
gateways, such as network to network; and
between a security gateway and a host, like network to host. IPsec employs cryptographic security services
to secure communications over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. IPsec ensures
network-level peer validation, data origin authentication, data integrity, and
data encryption and replay security.
While
some popular Internet security systems that are widely accepted, like Transport
Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Shell (SSH) operate in the upper layers at the
transport layer and the application layer, IPsec is an end-to-end shielding
scheme that operates in the Internet
Layer of the Internet Protocol Suite. Therefore, only Internet Protocol
Security protects the entire application traffic over an IP network.
Applications can be automatically safeguarded by IPsec at the IP layer.
IPsec is considered useful especially for implementing virtual private networks and for
remote user access via dial-up connection to private networks. One of the major
benefits of IPsec is that security arrangements can be managed without doing
changes at individual level user computers.
IPsec offers two options for security service:
Authentication
Header (AH): Basically, it permits
authentication of the sender of data.
Encapsulating
Security Payload (ESP): It not only
supports authentication of the sender, but it also supports encryption of data.
The particular information related to each of these services
is placed into the packet in a header that follows the IP packet header.
Resource Library
Blogs
