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)
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)
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:
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