Chapter 16. VPN Integration

In Chapter 7, "Virtual Private Networks," we addressed the basics of VPN technologies. This chapter discusses VPN integration, which refers to how these VPN technologies can be incorporated into the security perimeter. VPN integration is a complex subject because so many types of VPN solutions are available, and each one has many potential implementation issues. Without a good understanding of VPN integration, you will be ill-prepared to design or deploy VPN in your environment.

In this chapter, we look at several VPN options:

• Standard SSH connections and SSH tunnels

• Standard SSL connections, SSL tunnels, and SSL proxy servers

• Single-session and multiple-session remote desktop software

• IPSec

For each type of VPN, we examine the following:

• What services it can provide

• Under which circumstances it is most useful

• How it should be installed and configured

• How it can be integrated with other defense components

We also discuss other advanced VPN integration topics. Finally, we look in depth at a case study that presents a real-world scenario and demonstrates the advantages and disadvantages of three potential solutions.