Security at Network Layer IP security (IPSec)

The IP security (IPSec) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard suite of protocols between 2 communication points across the IP network that provide data authentication, integrity, and confidentiality.

It also defines the encrypted, decrypted and authenticated packets.

The protocols needed for secure key exchange and key management are defined in it.

IPsec can be used to do the following things:

• To encrypt application layer data.
• To provide security for routers sending routing data across the public internet.
• To provide authentication without encryption, like to authenticate that the data originates from a known sender.
• To protect network data by setting up circuits using IPsec tunneling in which all data is being sent between the two endpoints is encrypted, as with a Virtual Private Network(VPN) connection.

It has the following components:

1. Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) –
   It provides data integrity, encryption, authentication and anti replay. It also provides authentication for payload.
2. Authentication Header (AH) –
   It also provides data integrity, authentication and anti replay and it does not provide encryption. The anti replay protection, protects against unauthorized transmission of packets. It does not protect data’s confidentiality.

3.      Internet Key Exchange (IKE) –
It is a network security protocol designed to dynamically exchange encryption keys and find a way over Security Association (SA) between 2 devices. The Security Association (SA) establishes shared security attributes between 2 network entities to support secure communication. The Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) and Internet Security Association which provides a framework for authentication and key exchange. ISAKMP tells how the set up of the Security Associations (SAs) and how direct connections between two hosts that are using IPsec.

 

Internet Key Exchange (IKE) provides message content protection and also an open frame for implementing standard algorithms such as SHA and MD5. The algorithm’s IP sec users produces a unique identifier for each packet. This identifier then allows a device to determine whether a packet has been correct or not. Packets which are not authorized are discarded and not given to receiver.

Working of IP Security –

1. The host checks if the packet should be transmitted using IPsec or not. These packet traffic triggers the security policy for themselves. This is done when the system sending the packet apply an appropriate encryption. The incoming packets are also checked by the host that they are encrypted properly or not.
2. Then the IKE Phase 1 starts in which the 2 hosts( using IPsec ) authenticate themselves to each other to start a secure channel. It has 2 modes. The Main mode which provides the greater security and the Aggressive mode which enables the host to establish an IPsec circuit more quickly.
3. The channel created in the last step is then used to securely negotiate the way the IP circuit will encrypt data across the IP circuit.
4. Now, the IKE Phase 2 is conducted over the secure channel in which the two hosts negotiate the type of cryptographic algorithms to use on the session and agreeing on secret keying material to be used with those algorithms.
5. Then the data is exchanged across the newly created IPsec encrypted tunnel. These packets are encrypted and decrypted by the hosts using IPsec SAs.
6. When the communication between the hosts is completed or the session times out then the IPsec tunnel is terminated by discarding the keys by both the hosts.