Report differentiates between internet VPNs and web SSL VPNs

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A recent TechTarget report compared the terms internet virtual private networks and web secure socket layers VPNs.

According to the news provider, although SSL VPNs are considered a type of internet VPN, they are not the same.

"Internet VPNs dominate the security domain in the corporate world," said TechTarget's Rainer Enders. "The proliferation of mobile working is driving the growing need to secure data communications over the Internet. The two major technologies for Internet VPNs are IPsec and Web SSL."

Enders added that IPsec, an internet engineering taskforce standard, has come under scrutiny for its VPN security breaches. Also, the main difference between SSL and IPsec is that the former relies on the web browser whereas IPsec is based on a platform-specific client that can be managed and controlled.

"Therefore, many network security experts today favor a hybrid approach of IPsec and SSL when it comes to Internet VPNs," wrote Enders.

Overall, the global VPN services and ethernet switch industry is projected to reached $78 billion by 2015 and fueled by the rapid adoption of cloud computing solutions, according to a study released in July by research firm Infonetics.