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What network security does IPsec provide? IPsec is an extension of the Internet Protocol (IP) designed to secure network communication through cryptography. It can provide all of the security that can be achieved through cryptography: confidentiality and integrity of the data, plus authentication of the endpoint hosts. The combination of integrity and authentication provides non-repudiation. IPsec also detects replay attacks. We need to look at how it provides that security, and how to set it up. Since IPsec is a modification of the IP implementation within the TCP/IP protocol suite, that means a modification to the kernel of modern operating systems. Don't worry. Unless you are using something truly antique, your operating system will support IPsec. Architecture IPsec secures network communication between pairs of hosts. IPsec can be used to establish VPN (or Virtual Private Network) connections between sites or between a remote user and the core business site. Us...

IPSec’s protocol objective is to provide security services for IP packets such as encrypting sensitive data, authentication, protection against replay and data confidentiality. As outlined in our  IPSec protocol article , Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH) are the two IPSec security protocols used to provide these security services.  Analysing  the ESP and AH protocols is out of this article’s scope, however you can turn to our  IPSec article  where you’ll find an in-depth analysis and packet diagrams to help make the concept clear.   UNDERSTANDING IPSEC MODES –TUNNEL MODE & TRANSPORT MODE IPSec can be configured to operate in two different modes, Tunnel and Transport mode. Use of each mode depends on the requirements and implementation of IPSec.   IPSEC TUNNEL MODE IPSec tunnel mode is the  default mode . With tunnel mode, the entire original IP packet is protected by IPSec. This means IPSec wr...