Cisco OL-5490-01 User's Guide download pdf (Page 14)

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VPN Client User Guide for Mac OS X

OL-5490-01

Chapter 1 Understanding the VPN Client

VPN Client Overview

The VPN Client works with a Cisco VPN device to create a secure connection, called a tunnel, between

your computer and a private network. It uses Internet Key Exchange (IKE) and Internet Protocol Security

(IPSec) tunneling protocols to establish and manage the secure connection.

The steps used to establish a VPN connection can include:

• Negotiating tunnel parameters (addresses, algorithms, lifetime)

• Establishing VPN tunnels according to the parameters

• Authenticating users (from usernames, group names and passwords, and X.509 digital certificates.)

• Establishing user access rights (hours of access, connection time, allowed destinations, allowed

protocols)

• Managing security keys for encryption and decryption

• Authenticating, encrypting, and decrypting data through the tunnel

For example, to use a remote PC to read e-mail at your organization, the connection process might be

similar to the following:

Step 1 Connect to the Internet.

Step 2 Start the VPN Client.

Step 3 Establish a secure connection through the Internet to your organization’s private network.

Step 4 When you open your e-mail

• The Cisco VPN device

–

Uses IPSec to encrypt the e-mail message

–

Transmits the message through the tunnel to your VPN Client

• The VPN Client

–

Decrypts the message so you can read it on your remote PC

–

Uses IPSec to process and return the message to the private network through the Cisco VPN

device.

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Cisco OL-5490-01 User's Guide Page 14