Network Security Quest

  What is a Cisco PIX? A Cisco PIX is a dedicated hardware firewall appliance. All Cisco PIX versions have model numbers in the 500s. The most popular model for home offices and small networks is the PIX 501; many midsize companies use the PIX 515 as a corporate firewall. PIX firewalls run the PIX operating system. While the PIX OS is quite similar to the Cisco IOS, there are enough differences to cause some frustration for users more familiar with IOS. The firewall sports the PIX Device Manager (PDM) for a graphical interface. This GUI is a Java application downloaded through a Web browser. Typically, a PIX firewall has an outside interface that connects to the inside of an Internet router and goes to the public Internet. It also has an inside interface that connects to a LAN switch, going to the private internal network. What is a Cisco ASA? A Cisco ASA is a new firewall and anti-malware security appliance from Cisco ...

IPSec involves many component technologies and encryption methods. Yet IPSec's operation can be broken down into five main steps. The five steps are summarized as follows: Step 1 Interesting traffic initiates the IPSec process —Traffic is deemed interesting when the IPSec security policy configured in the IPSec peers starts the IKE process. Step 2 IKE phase one —IKE authenticates IPSec peers and negotiates IKE SAs during this phase, setting up a secure channel for negotiating IPSec SAs in phase two. Step 3 IKE phase two —IKE negotiates IPSec SA parameters and sets up matching IPSec SAs in the peers. Step 4 Data transfer —Data is transferred between IPSec peers based on the IPSec parameters and keys stored in the SA database. Step 5 IPSec tunnel termination —IPSec SAs terminate through deletion or by timing out.   Step 1: Defini...