When discussing security mechanisms across the internet, another technology that can also be considered is Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
VPN is becoming a growing technology for organisations to allow data to be sent between corporate networks across an internet connection, which is secure and saves on cost without the need for either a dedicated line or any other expensive WAN technology.
According to Habraken (7) a VPN is “a secure, dedicated, point-to-point connection over a public IP internet work, such as the internet”. Habraken further explains that this control session between the client and server is called a “Tunnel”.
Irving (2) states that this “tunnel” connection between the VPN server and client enters a “predetermined encryption mode”, allowing data to been sent and received between the two in an “encrypted format”, whereby once data is received by the server, it is decrypted and passed on to the organisation.
According to Gallo and Hancock (1) tunnels are managed by Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocols (PPTP). PPTP is an extension of Point-to-Point protocols and is the mechanism that enables the “encapsulation” and “uncapsulated” of data frames between the remote client and the server over the internet.
According to Gallo and Hancock (1), aside from firewalls, PPTP is another security mechanism for secure transmission over the internet.