What is the DPI (Deep Packet Inspection)?

Deep packet inspection (DPI) is an advanced technique used to examine and manage network traffic. It employs packet filtering to locate, identify, classify, reroute or block packets with a specific code or data payload. Conventional packet filtering can’t detect DPI, as it only looks at packet headers.

Deep Packet Inspection tools

Network administrators often use DPI as a security tool to detect and intercept viruses and other types of malicious traffic. However, they can also use it for disreputable activities, such as eavesdropping.

Deep Packet Inspection is also used to streamline the flow of network traffic. A message that is, for example, flagged as a high priority can be sent to its destination before low-priority packets or messages. DPI can also be used to improve network performance by throttling data transfer, thereby preventing peer-to-peer abuse.

DPI has sparked concern among proponents of Net Neutrality and privacy advocates, as it is possible to identify both the recipient and originator from content enclosing specific packets.

What is Obfuscation?

Obfuscating means to make something obscure. When applied to Internet traffic, obfuscating implies that you are trying to hide its real purpose, similar to putting on a disguise.

Obfuscation techniques

Obfuscation is often used to hide TOR or VPN traffic (VPN obfuscation). As some governments and ISPs block connections to these services obfuscation prevents anyone from seeing that your internet traffic is encrypted. It is also used to bypass firewalls so that restricted websites can be accessed. While these objectives may be slightly different, the same method is used to achieve both.

When special tools obfuscate Internet traffic, its original form is changed to a discrete structure that makes it look like regular Internet traffic. When users connect to a VPN, encrypted traffic is altered to look like regular, unencrypted internet traffic. However, the encryption will still be present, and your data will not be readable. Thus, it results in undetectable VPN traffic.

Obfuscation and ISP policies

Whether or not obfuscation will help with the loss of net neutrality remains to be seen, as it depends on what ISPs decide to do in the future. If they choose to block VPN and TOR traffic, then obfuscation will be useful, but if they start charging different rates for using specific services, then your options are limited.

In the latter case, all you’ll be able to do is to make it appear as if you’re using a cheaper service than what you are. One example will be if an ISP charges $1.50/Mb for normal browsing and $2.50/Mb for gaming. Internet traffic could be obfuscated to look like regular browsing instead of gaming to pay the lower rate.

What is Stealth VPN?

A Stealth VPN is a VPN protocol that can let VPN traffic appear as if it is regular web traffic, even when a network administrator activates a DPI firewall.

Firewalls are commonly used to block VPNs in countries where Internet access is restricted or censored. Some examples would include China, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, countries where VPN is illegal. Network administrators also often block VPN access for a company or school network to improve monitoring and control of network activity.

A StealthVPN service will allow you to quickly bypass these blocking mechanisms to create VPN tunnels through a firewall, including the Firewall of China.

How Stealth VPNs work

Though people commonly use the term ‘Stealth,’ it would be more accurate to describe the technology as ‘VPN Camouflage.’ A ‘Stealth’ VPN disguises VPN data packets as regular Internet traffic. The most advanced implementations obfuscate the VPN traffic into HTTPS traffic.

What is HTTPS traffic?

HTTPS connections are crucial for secure data transmissions on the Internet where credit card numbers, passwords, etc. are used. That’s why most firewalls, even if they are very restrictive, won’t block HTTPS packets, making stealth VPN technology very efficient.

SSL or TLS encryption secures the HTTPS traffic. Online banking and credit card transactions use it to increase security, as well as sites like Facebook and Google. If you see the ‘lock’ icon in your browser bar and ‘https’ before the ‘www’ in the URL, you know that your browser uses https. Routers and firewalls identify HTTPS traffic because it always uses port #443.

Stealth VPN techniques can efficiently use this characteristic of HTTPS traffic to impersonate HTTPS data and bypass firewalls undetected.

StealthVPN protocols

OpenVPN

OpenVPN has the best combination of cross-platform compatibility, security, and speed. Therefore, most Stealth VPN servers use OpenVPN encryption to reap these benefits. A local stealth proxy (called obfsproxy) modulates and obfuscates the OpenVPN traffic into regular Internet traffic.

SSTP

SSTP (Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol) is another stealth protocol that VPN enthusiasts use. But, this protocol is only available on Windows, and not all VPN providers offer it. As SSTP uses SSL encryption as its primary encryption algorithm natively, it does have a significant advantage.

Softether

The relatively new Softether protocol provides the third approach. Due to its SSL-VPN Tunneling on HTTPS, it can ‘penetrate’ highly-restricted firewalls.

StealthVPN vs. OpenVPN

The most common SteathVPN implementations are using OpenVPN and obfsproxy.

A typical data packet used with OpenVPN consists of a header that contains packet identification and routing information. The payload is the strongly encrypted part of the data packet which is forwarded to the correct web address. The header information is used to identify the source of a package, including the port # and the fact that the container contains OpenVPN data.

A stealth VPN uses obfuscation to strip the metadata that identifies the data as belonging to a VPN protocol from the packet header. The disguised packet looks like regular HTTPS encrypted web traffic by using the fact that https uses SSL/TLS Encryption and port #443.

The obfuscation is done by wrapping the OpenVPN data packet (using the obfsproxy local proxy) in a secondary layer of encryption, and assigning the data to port #443 or any other port.

When stealth technology has these two steps, the data packet can’t be distinguished from regular https data or regular Internet traffic, and it is virtually impossible to block.

When and why do you need StealthVPN?

Avoid VPN blocks, and access blocked websites

For some, a Stealth protocol is an absolute necessity. For people located in countries such as the UAE, China, or Iran, it would be difficult (or virtually impossible) to access specific websites without making use of stealth VPN technology. In some countries like Iran, using a VPN is a crime, so it is critical that you make sure your VPN is undetectable.

Avoid throttling and protect your privacy

There are also those that choose to use Stealth VPNs to protect their privacy or to avoid throttling. Although some firewalls don’t block VPN traffic, they do throttle it, slowing it down dramatically. You should know that even major ISPs like mobile providers do this.

Stealth VPN providers

Several excellent VPN providers offer StealthVPN (secure VPN) connections on their servers (check the list below).

ibVPN

ibVPN is one of my favorite VPN services as it provides a lot of exciting features (take a look at my complete ibVPN review), including a variety of servers or protocols. Regarding StealthVPN, ibVPN includes access to all three implementations (OpenVPN with obfsproxy, SSTP and Softether). The first two options are available within the Windows application, while users may install Softether on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS as a standalone client app.

IPVanish

IPVanish can obfuscate the OpenVPN traffic on two ports: 1194 and 443 (HTTPS). Choose the port and check the Obfuscate OpenVPN traffic option. It is available for the Windows application.

VyprVPN

VyprVPN has developed its proprietary stealth VPN protocol known as ‘Chameleon Protocol.’ The VyprVPN Chameleon uses a 256-bit OpenVPN encryption obfuscated and transmitted via TLS port #443. Thus, Users that live in or travel to countries such as China, Russia, India, Turkey, Iran, and Syria can access the Internet unrestricted. The Chameleon VPN is available for Windows, Mac, Android, and VPN routers.

TorGuard VPN

TorGuard bases its stealth VPN implementation on dedicated ‘Stealth’ VPN servers. Users can access these servers from the Windows, macOS, and Android apps. Also, the Stealth Proxy feature inside the TorGuard VPN apps adds a “second” layer of security that connects your standard VPN connection through an encrypted proxy layer. When enabled, the Stealth Proxy hides the “handshake,” making it impossible for the DPI firewalls to determine if VPN software is being used. A plus for TorGuard is that it offers dedicated IP address options in many locations.

Perfect Privacy

Perfect Privacy uses OpenVPN to implement Stealth VPN technology. You may obfuscate your VPN traffic by tunneling it through stunnel, ssh or obfsproxy2/obfsproxy3. Also, you can choose the connection ports #22 (SSH), #53 (DNS) and #443 (SSL). Perfect Privacy offers the StealthVPN protocol into the Windows client, or you may set up the obfuscation manually with OpenVPN on Linux and Mac.

VPN.ac

The VPN.ac ‘Stealth VPN’ secure protocol applies a technique called XOR obfuscation on the OpenVPN traffic. The OpenVPN XOR is similar to OpenVPN 256-bit regarding key strength. However, the symmetric cipher is different, AES 128-bit being faster and less CPU intensive than AES 256-bit. Running the OpenVPN XOR over port TCP #443 should bypass most firewalls/web-filtering engines. It is available on the Windows application.

Conclusion

Using stealth VPNs will camouflage your VPN and make it appear as regular web traffic. Stealth VPNs are mainly used for privacy purposes, or to bypass firewalls in countries where Internet access is restricted or censored.

Till now, we have covered the below VPN Protocols (the list is being updated as and when new content is written):

• Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
• Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
• IPSec (this article itself)

What is IPSec?

When I say IPSec then I guess the Windows-based users should feel an adrenaline rush. After all, IPSec is their protocol which is used in partnership with the likes of Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. IPSec can be used as a tunneling protocol on its own.

It has been tagged by many critics as the standard VPN solution due to its balanced nature and list of amazing features. One such important feature that helps IPSec achieve the status of standard VPN solution is its improved connectivity in case of gateway-to-gateway VPNs. IPSec operates at a higher position in our network OSI model which we call as network layer (whose commercial name is Layer 3.)

IPSec on hardware VPN machines

IPSec is also famous for its implementation by most of the hardware VPN machines. To take an example, Cisco’s VPN and the PIX firewalls use IPsec. Others using IPSec are SonicWall, NetScreen, and WatchGuard machines. Some of the enterprise level software firewalls that support IPSec are CheckPoint, ISA Server, and Symantec Enterprise Firewall. Please understand that this was just a list of hardware and software that support IPSec. You will find a lot more once you start Googling.

While in tunnel mode, IPSec smartly secures packets that are being moved from one gateway to other or from a client computer to a gateway. VPN protocols IPSec works with IP based applications and networks. Wasn’t that pretty obvious due to its name? Just like L2TP and PPTP, even IPSec looks for a client installed on the local machine for it to work properly.

When it comes to authentication, IPSec uses Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol with digital certificates (the more secure method) accompanied. In some cases, preshared key is used in place of digital certificates. Due to these features, IPSec is smart enough to protect VPN services from famous hack attacks like – man-in-the-middle attack, Replay, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack.

VPN Protocols IPSec support

IPSec is supported by Windows XP/2000/2003 only. The older version of the Windows Operating System does not support IPSec. Third-party VPN vendors, like Cisco and CheckPoint, will provide client-based custom software when they offer VPN services. Please understand that these might cost you some money.

How to set up an IPSec VPN connection

The IPSec protocol suite is used to secure IP packets during a communication session. The end-to-end security that is implemented on IPSec allows for this to be implemented either in a host-to-host flow, network-to-network or in a network-to-host data flows. When implementing an IPSec VPN connection when located behind a router or when using a private IP address, a download update is required from Microsoft to successfully connect to an IPSec VPN connection.

How to setup IPSec VPN

Create a new network connection from the “My Network Places” on any Windows operating system.

Use the “Virtual Private Network Connection” for this connection. Some of this option is not available. To re-enable it, go to your processes and enable the Remote Access Connection Manager.

Type a connection name under the “VPN Server Selection” window in the format shown below:

Ipsec.newyork.edu

Do not use a smart card when prompted to use one.

When configured properly, the VPN connection should open automatically allowing you to configure the already set up connection.

Right-click the new VPN connection icon and select “Properties”.

Set the type of VPN to “L2TP IPSec VPN”.

Check the items below under the field “This connection uses the following items”:

• Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
• Client for Microsoft Networks
• QoS Packet Scheduler

Set the connection to get an automatic IP and DNS address.

When establishing an IPSec VPN connection, it may take some time before the connection and settings are picked, so be patient and give it a little time before making changes to the connection or using new configurations.

Troubleshooting IPSec VPN connections

When troubleshooting IPSec VPN connections, the first place you want to look at is the IPSEC System Log. The log will provide fine details on what is keeping the connection from establishing and can help you to determine what is going on.

The L2TP tunneling protocol is implemented with IPSec because it lacks confidentiality. L2TP packets are hidden within IPSec packets securely hiding any information about the internal private network.  In an L2TP/IPSec implementation, the IPSec thus provides the secure channel while the L2TP provides the tunnel or channel for packet transmission.

IPSec VPN Providers

If you do not have your own VPN server to connect to you may get access to VPN services (ibVPN, NordVPN, PureVPN, HideMyAss) that provide access to servers located all over the World. Most of the providers allow IPSec/L2TP connections and also detailed tutorials to setup IPSec VPN.

SoftEther VPN (from “Software Ethernet”) is a relatively new VPN protocol, a cross-platform multi-protocol VPN,  considered the excellent OpenVPN alternative. This post explains what SoftEther is and how you can benefit from its advantages.

What is SoftEther VPN?

The SoftEther project was developed as part of a thesis research at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. It consists of two parts: a new VPN (Virtual Private Network) protocol and a VPN server capable of establishing VPN connections using multiple VPN protocols (a.k.a, multiprotocol VPN), including L2TP, SSTP VPN, and OpenVPN.

The SoftEther VPN protocol is an alternative to OpenVPN and other VPN protocols. It is free, open-source, and runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, and Solaris. Take a look below to see its main benefits.

The SoftEther VPN server can communicate with various devices using not only the SoftEther protocol but also L2TP/IPSec or OpenVPN. Moreover, Microsoft’s SSTP is accepted, even if the VPN server is installed on Linux. By the way, the SoftEther VPN server can be installed on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and Mac OS X. You may read more details regarding the SoftEther server architecture on the SoftEther official web page. Also, you may download SoftEther VPN applications.

SoftEther VPN protocol benefits

Here are some of the most important benefits the SoftEther protocol brings to its users:

• It is free and open-source. Thus, any potential security flaws can be easily detected and fixed by the community.
• It is fast!
• Due to its SSL-VPN Tunneling on HTTPS, it can “penetrate” highly-restricted firewalls. It is considered to be a Stealth VPN protocol.
• It uses high-level encryption: AES 256-bit and RSA 4096-bit.
• Supports PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy).

SoftEther VPN vs. OpenVPN

SoftEther is often compared to OpenVPN, a standard when it comes to VPN protocols. Let’s take a look at several differences between these two protocols and VPN servers:

• According to some tests, SoftEther protocol is the fastest. Also, the SoftEther server is faster on all protocols including OpenVPN.
• The fact that the SoftEther VPN server can support multiple protocols is also a big plus compared to OpenVPN.
• All operating system which supports OpenVPN (e.g., Linux, Mac OS X, Linux, UNIX, iPhone, and Android) can connect to SoftEther VPN server.
• SoftEther VPN Server has a more natural configuration than the OpenVPN server.

To sum up the comparison, SoftEther is better than OpenVPN in more than one aspect. The future will tell if SoftEther will be adopted on a large scale and replace OpenVPN.

SoftEther vs. VPN Gate

The term “SoftEther” is often associated with “VPN Gate.” However, even if the same team develops them, there are significant differences. VPN Gate is an optional extension module that can be activated on a SoftEther VPN Server or Client.

According to the project page: If you activate the VPN Gate extension on SoftEther Server, then a Virtual Hub “VPNGATE” will be created on your VPN Server. The “VPNGATE” hub contains the “VPN” user with anonymous-attributes. That means that anyone who knows your VPN Server’s IP address can connect to the “VPNGATE” hub on your VPN Server.

Also, the module registers your server on the VPNGate directory. Thus, your SoftEther server could be used by anonymous users from all over the World. The “VPN Gate” module is disabled by default for security reasons.

SoftEther VPN providers

Even if the SoftEther protocol is very fast, it has not (yet) been adopted by most of the VPN providers. However, I was able to find a couple of VPN providers that accept connections from SoftEther VPN clients: ibVPN (now migrated to StrongVPN) and HideIPVPN.

How to use SoftEther apps – Install SoftEther

Setting up the SoftEther VPN connections is an easy task. First, you need to install a SoftEther client app. Once installed, create a new VPN connection and fill in the necessary info. Take a look below at the example provided by ibVPN.

Conclusion

To sum up, SoftEther looks very promising. The protocol is high-speed, secure and stable. The server-side can communicate on different protocols and runs on various server configurations (including Linux and Windows). Keep an eye on SoftEther! It may soon become a VPN standard!

What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below!

As promised, let me continue with my venture with VPN protocols. You will get to read a lot about different free VPN services around the Internet but hardly will people tell you how these VPN services function. It is when you understand the technicalities hidden behind these VPN services, that you are able to choose for the best VPN service for yourself. Learn about the L2TP protocol.

Other VPN protocols that I have already discussed (list will be updated as and when new articles are written):

• Point-to-Point tunneling protocol
• Layer 2 Tunneling/L2TP Protocol (this article itself)
• IPSec

NOTE: Remember to read these in the order given above so that you understand them more clearly.

Today, we will throw some light on the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol which is also called L2TP in short. This protocol was created in coordination with the likes of Microsoft and Cisco. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol was actually a combination of two different protocols given below:

• Layer 2 Forwarding (L2F) protocol owned and developed by Cisco.
• Point-to-Point tunneling protocol owned and developed by Microsoft.

L2TP had several advantages that made it shine when compared to PPTP. One of the most important of these advantages was its usage over non-IP networks such as frame relay, X.25, and ATM. L2TP, like PPTP, operates over the data link layer in the very famous OSI network model. Also, most of the major firewalls like WatchGuard, Cisco PIX, CheckPoint, and ISA server support L2TP without any hitches.

The Windows-based 2003, XP and 2000 carry the built-in client for L2TP. If you are one of the legacy Windows users who are still using older versions of Windows (like Windows 98, NT4.0 or ME) then you can download clients that support L2TP.

L2TP uses the features provided by IP Sec (IP security) and its enhanced form namely ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) protocol to secure its connections. It also requires the use of digital certificates for security reasons. L2TP can perform user authentication using a similar technology that was used by PPTP – the PPP authentication mechanism. L2TP provides computer-based authentication which is not supported by PPTP. This is an extra security layer that is not present in PPTP.

Let us check out some more advantages of L2TP over PPTP:

• PPTP gives data confidentiality but L2TP provides data integrity. Basically, it is the protection of data between its flight from sender to receiver.
• Authentication of Origin which is quite self-explanatory. This feature confirms that the sender of data is the actual sender of data.
• Replay protection which prevents the hacker from capturing the data after it is released from its origin. Hackers usually capture the data during its flights and edit it before it reaches its destination. This is prevented by this new feature of L2TP.
• It may use Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS).

One must understand that L2TP might look a slow protocol when compared to PPTP because it provides extra features that are not present in PPTP.

VPN services have popped up like crazy in last few years and it has become important for Internet users to understand the intricacies of VPN services so that they aren’t easily fooled. There is nothing worse than giving away money for a pathetic service.

List of Protocols already discussed are:

• Point-to-Point tunneling protocol (this article itself)
• Layer 2 tunneling protocol
• IPSec

For starters, we will throw light on VPN protocols PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) which was developed by Microsoft in association with many other technology companies. PPTP is said to be the most widely used VPN method when compared to the other available protocols.

An important point worth noting is that PPTP does not come loaded with authentication or encryption features. It solely relies on tunneling in order to implement security functionality. With time various companies have started to push out their own form of PPTP which comes loaded with various security features. One must understand that the base PPTP format isn’t secure but it can be made secure.

PPP (Point to Point Protocol)

PPTP can be considered as an extension of  PPP (Point to Point Protocol) which happens to be the link layer protocol that is used to transmit IP packets over serial links. Authentications similar to that of PPP can be used with PPTP connections. PPTP can be used with Microsoft Point to Point Encryption (shortly termed as MPPE) protocol in order to make it secure. Due to the exclusion of many features, PPTP becomes faster when compared to different other protocols.

PPTP was built by Microsoft henceforth most of the PPTP services are already installed in the Windows Operating System. This makes it easy for users to trust PPTP based VPN services as these won’t request you to install any software. PPTP based VPN will simply use the already installed PPTP client in Windows Operating System thus making life quite easy.

Why should you use PPTP VPN? Fair security, easy setup!

So, why should you use PPTP VPN services? Well, because above all things you value your SECURITY and PRIVACY! The tunnel makes certain that your data is safely encrypted as it traverses two points. Meantime, you are granted a new internet protocol upon subscribing to the best PPTP VPN connection available. This brand new IP address is obtained from a remote server which is based in another country.  This very simple practice enables the end-users to enjoy being anonymous online as no one might be able to locate your identity or specific geographic location for that matter. All this while, your real IP address remains hidden.

Yet another amazing advantage derived from subscribing to the best PPTP VPN is that one can easily bypass any forms of internet restriction compelled upon various countries like Iran, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc, on their people to a certain extent.

PPTP VPN works on Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android

PPTP is one of the few VPN protocols that can be easily set up on any operating system and it does not require the installation of any software. The setup requires some simple steps that can be done by anyone.

There are plenty of VPN providers that offer PPTP VPN. Depending on what you need to unlock you need to select the one that offers the proper server location. For example, if you want to watch Hulu you need a US IP if you want to access BBC iPlayer select a UK VPN, and so on.

Update: PPTP protocol is no longer accepted by Apple devices running iOS 10 or later! You should go for L2TP. IKEv2 or IPSec.

PPTP VPN services

Linux does not come loaded with PPTP but clients for Linux based machines are available on the Internet. MAC-based machines come loaded with PPTP support from third-party clients also available for MAC. PPTP VPN services are well known around the Internet henceforth you will see that many firewalls do support various PPTP based services. Lastly, some of the Android-based cell phones also support PPTP.

With the advent of time, multiple security vulnerabilities were found with VPN protocols PPTP based VPN services which resulted in other protocols popping up. We will learn more about other protocols in my upcoming articles.

What’s the Difference Between PPTP VPN and OpenVPN?

PPTP is popular because it is easy to configure and it was the first VPN protocol that was supported by Microsoft Dial-up Networking.

The problem is that PPTP does not provide confidentiality or encryption. It relies on the protocol being tunneled to provide privacy.

A typical upgrade path for PPTP is L2TP/IPsec. The adoption of improved VPN technologies has been slow because PPTP is convenient and easy to configure, whereas L2TP/IPsec requires a shared key or machine certificates.

OpenVPN protocol

OpenVPN is a free and open source virtual private network (VPN) program for creating point-to-point or server-to-multiclient encrypted tunnels between host computers.

It uses the OpenSSL library to provide encryption of both the data and control channels. It lets OpenSSL do all the encryption and authentication work, allowing OpenVPN to use all the ciphers available in the OpenSSL package.

List of OpenVPN-based VPN Services

PPTP vs OpenVPN?

Let’s compare these two on the following criteria:

Installation

PPTP is still offered as a way to connect due to its simplicity. You can set up a PPTP connection with no software at all. OpenVPN is a little more difficult to set up but with the right tutorials, an average computer user should not encounter any problems.

Security

OpenVPN is considered to be extremely secure when compared to the PPTP VPN, and also more stable. Plus one for OpenVPN.

Mobile Devices

iPhone, iPod Touch, Windows Mobile, all work with PPTP. These are very easy to set up, and just a Host Name, Login, and Password will have you connected. OpenVPN does not work on such devices.

Update: Starting from iOS 10, iPhone and iPads do not accept PPTP connections, only L2TP, IPSec, and IKEv2.

Conclusion

To sum up, if you are looking for high security and privacy you should choose OpenVPN. If you need easy-to-setup VPN, PPTP is a good choice.

It is this anywhere and anytime access requirement which has pushed organizations to think outside the box. Remote access helps organizations improve customer service, the power to drive productivity and add agility to the organization. Along with all the benefits come along the security issues that can virtually block, if ignored, an organization’s working process.

Why do you need a VPN?

This is where VPN comes into play and does its job pretty well. Although most of the operating systems have pre-installed VPNs. It can help you achieve your basic targets, actually, you get what you pay for. These in-built protocols lack robust authentication, rely mostly on usernames and passwords, and can easily be hacked by a novice hacker.

What is SSL VPN?

Although there are multiple VPN protocols that are being used by different vendors, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) happens to be the most famous and pretty secure when compared to all. SSL uses same encryption as most of the e-commerce websites and different web-enabled applications thus making it quite easy when it comes to compatibility. It is the ease of access to features like cross-compatibility and different options that make SSL a famous VPN Protocol.

Moreover,  SSL VPN uses same ports that are most of the times opened for firewalls in order to allow secure traffic. This means that no other extra setup is required to have SSL up and running. This reduces the weird need of installing custom software in order use SSL which is really a handy characteristic of SSL.

SSL VPN main features

SSL has an important feature using which access could be denied to an “authorized” user if that particular user has logged in from a not-so-secure network which could be a coffee shop Wi-fi.

Another important feature of SSL which benefits administrators is its update feature. The settings of an SSL connection can be easily updated without the requirement of any third party software. This reduces a lot of pain and saves a lot of time. Also, SSL incorporates multiple layers of authentication and can be used for mobility enablement.

Salman Siddiqui is an expert technical analyst and regularly blogs on his tech. blog CompuWorld. His vast experience of freelance writing is backed by his passion to swim against the tide.