34. Configure a Secure Tunnel (VPN)BEFORE YOU BEGIN 30 Configure Networking Manually 33 Share Your Internet Connection SEE ALSO 35 Share Another Mac's Files One major problem with using the Internet for mission-critical business is that data transmitted over the Internet is subject to being intercepted by malicious eavesdroppers. A confidential document being sent from San Francisco to New York might be captured in transit by someone in Chicago or China; clearly this isn't something that will fill stockholders with confidence. 34. Configure a Secure Tunnel (VPN) Fortunately, there's a way of transmitting data so that it can't be usefully intercepted: a Virtual Private Network ( VPN ) . A VPN is a kind of "tunnel" on the Internet, a method for encrypting ( scrambling ) your transmitted data and sending it to a server at the other end of the tunnel that descrambles it so that it can be read by the intended recipients. If your computer is part of a VPN, it uses a different set of TCP/IP settings from the ones it normally uses on the open , "clear-text" Internet. Other computers in the VPN are also configured as though part of the same virtual network, hence the name . KEY TERMS Virtual Private Network (VPN) A virtual "tunnel" that allows you to send and receive scrambled (private) traffic to a secure remote location, such as to your corporate network from home. PPTP protocol Point-to-Point Tunnel Protocol, a popular type of VPN architecture. L2TP/IPSec protocol Secure IP, a newer and more versatile form of VPN architecture. Many companies use VPNs to connect one office to another, or for employees to gain access to the private internal network protected by a NAT gateway. Your Mac can use the PPTP or L2TP/IPSec protocols to create a VPN tunnel to an appropriate server and join its virtual network, provided that you have a valid username and password for the VPN.
TIP Select the Show VPN status in menu bar check box to have the VPN status appear among the System Menu icons, in the right side of the Mac's global menu bar; this icon shows you how long you've been connected, as well as allowing you to select between multiple VPN tunnels and to open Internet Connect . |