
Encapsulation and Packet Handling
3-8
Hewlett-Packard Company Virtual Private Networking Concepts Guide
Packet Keys
Packet Keys
Packet Keys
Packet Keys
The key (or keys in the case of triple pass DES or 3DES) used to
encrypt a packet in SST encapsulation is called a packet key. A
new packet key is randomly generated for every packet. This
step, along with the outer-CBC technique, ensures that no matter
how many identical original packets are sent, the new encrypted
packets are significantly different each time. A simplified packet
as released by a VPN device is shown next.
Figure:
Figure:
Figure:
Figure: Encrypted Packet
Encrypted Packet
Encrypted Packet
Encrypted Packet
This new packet has many interesting features. Note that the
destination and source IP addresses of the original packet are
different from the destination and source IP addresses of the
new packet. The new IP addresses are the IP addresses of the
VPN device that encrypted the packet. In many cases, these
addresses are the IP addresses of the WAN interfaces of the VPN
device that secure the communication.
In a typical network configuration, a packet traveling from the
Web server at the main office to a PC on the Branch office
network has the IP addresses set to the WAN side IP addresses
of the VPN devices at the gateways to these networks. The IP
address of the Web server and the PC are hidden from anyone
intercepting the packet and the interceptor gains no knowledge
about the LANs.
Note also that the destination and source ports are both set to
2233. This application port number indicates only that the
packet is encrypted. The source port in the original packet
would be set to port 80 to indicate that this is World Wide Web
traffic. Therefore, the nature of the packet is hidden from
anyone intercepting the packet.
The protocol has been modified and set to UDP. The original
packet, if it was an http (www) packet, has its protocol set to
Dest
IP
Src
IP
Dest
Port
Src
Port
Prot
Payload Data
Prot=
UDP
Src
Port=
2233
Dest
Port=
2233
Src
Enc IP
Dest
Enc IP
Pck
Keys
Source and Destination
ports set to 2233
Protocol
set to UDP
Original packet encrypted
with packet key
Packet keys encrypted
with session keys
Source and destination
IPs set to encryptor IPs