Virtual Private Networks For Dummies

by Mark S. Merkow

Overview

Let’s face it: the information age makes dummies of us all at some point. One thing we can say for sure, though, about things related to the Internet is that their best strengths are often also their worst weaknesses. This goes for virtual private networks (VPNs). They may reach a wide base of customers – but can also be vulnerable to viruses, hackers, spoofers, and other shady online characters and entities. VPNs may allow for super-efficient communication between customer and company – but they rely on information which, if compromised, can cause huge losses. The Internet is still a frontier – sometimes so wide open it leaves us bewildered – and, like any frontier, the risks go hand in hand with potentially huge rewards.

Virtual Private Networks for Dummies offers you a no-nonsense, practical guide to evaluating your company’s need for a VPN, understanding what it takes to implement one, and undertaking the challenging quest to set it up, make it work, and keep it safe. Whether you’re the resident expert leading the project team, or you just want to learn what makes e-commerce tick, this detailed, from-the-ground-up guide will soon have you comfortably conceptualizing:

• Security goals and strategies
• The evolution of VPNs
• Privacy in VPNs
• Extranets
• Remote-Access VPNs
• Funding
• Custom network solutions design
• Testing VPNs
• And more

With new products and technologies offering supposedly revolutionary solutions to IT departments every day, this book focuses on the real world – you know, the one full of obstacles, mishaps, threats, delays, and errors – and gives you the background knowledge to make decisions for yourself about your VPN needs. Written with a dash of humor, Virtual Private Networks for Dummies contains both technical detail (standards, protocols, etc.) and more general concepts (such as conducting cost-benefit analyses). This clear, authoritative guide will have you securely and cost-effectively networking over the Internet in no time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780764505904
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	12/02/1999
Series:	For Dummies Books
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Mark Merkow, an e-commerce and network security expert, writes a column for ecommerce.internet.com and is the coauthor of Building SET Applications for Secure Transactions.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I: Unlocking the Mysteries of VPNs 5

Chapter 1: Embracing Virtual Private Networks 7

Chapter 2: Touring the Land of VPNs 17

Chapter 3: Putting Privacy into VPNs 25

Chapter 4: Public Keys, Private Messages 43

Chapter 5: Fighting for the QoS 63

Part II: Applying VPNs in the Real World 73

Chapter 6: Extraordinary Extranets 75

Chapter 7: Remotely Possible 89

Chapter 8: Branching Our All Over 103

Chapter 9: Justify Yourself 115

Chapter 10: Let Your Requirements Be Your Guide 127

Part III: Roadmap for VPN Solutions 143

Chapter 11: Designing Custom VPN Network Solutions 145

Chapter 12: Evaluating and Selecting VPN and PKI Solutions 161

Chapter 13: Implementing Your VPN and PKI 183

Chapter 14: Testing Your VPN 193

Chapter 15: Living in a VPN-Wired World 205

Part IV: The Part of Tens 218

Chapter 16: Ten VPN Online Information Sources 219

Chapter 17: More Than Ten VPN Standards 227

Chapter 18: More Than Ten Steps to an Information Privacy Checklist 239

Chapter 19: Ten Security and Security-Testing Specialists 249

Part V: Appendixes 259

Appendix A: VPN Buyer’s Guide 261

Appendix B: Glossary 285

Appendix C: Inside IPSec 295

Index 303