If you’re concerned about the security of your network connections, then the IPsec protocol suite is for you. In this video, you’ll learn the basics of IPsec technology.
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IPsec is a very, very common protocol to see on the internet. It’s one that encrypts at OSI layer three. It encrypts at the IP layer, which makes sense, it’s called IPsec, IP security. Whatever’s inside of that IP doesn’t really matter. It’s irrelevant because we’re encrypting right there at the IP level. We can put anything inside of that. We can put any type of TCP or UDP or application, but the reality is IPsec doesn’t care. It’s going to encrypt it all up and it’s going to send it off via that layer three communication.
It is an open standard. It is used in a lot of places. It’s used for VPN connectivity from a client to a server. It’s used between firewalls to be able to encrypt data between those devices. You’ll see IPsec a lot if you get into security or doing a lot as a security professional, you’ll use IPsec every day to do a lot of different things. This is usually something where you’re talking about bringing up a tunnel. You’re creating an encrypted link between devices and IPsec is going to provide authentication. It’s going to make sure that the data is getting to and from where it’s being sent in one piece, and nobody’s changing it, with integrity. Confidentiality is there in encryption so we can make sure that nobody’s able to tap into this link and see what’s inside of those connections.
A very, very useful technology, a very robust technology, one that’s used in many, many different places. And because it is a standard you can get Manufacturer A and Manufacturer B’s device to communicate to each other via IPsec. Everything’s encrypted and yet the devices were made by different people. A lot of advantages there and if you’re going to be doing a lot with networking and security, you’ll certainly run into IPsec.