Virtual vpn in the cloud

1.1
 
Background 
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) provides the standardized definition 
of a VPN [9]; “A network in which connectivity among multiple private Wide Area 

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2 
Networks (WANs) is deployed using shared IP infrastructure with the same policies as a 
private network.” 
A VPN connection includes the following components: 
•
VPN gateways:
A VPN peer which initiates/accepts traffic from a corresponding 
VPN peer. 
•
VPN Tunnel:
The portion of the connection in which the traversing data is 
encapsulated. 
•
VPN connection:
The portion in which the traversing data is encrypted. 
A VPN is constructed following different architectural structures which are described in 
detail in the succeeding sections.
Despite the benefits of shifting to the cloud, data breaching, data loss and traffic 
hijacking are rated among the top threats to cloud computing security [10]. Extraction of 
private cryptographic keys and sensitive information, false data injection and data 
manipulation are few vulnerabilities that are to be handled through secured transmission of 
data with proper VPN management. Various security breaches such as Man in the Middle 
attack, Distributed Denial of Service attack have raised the necessity of an effective VPN 
solution in the cloud.
Among different methods, encryption of data is considered extremely helpful in 
assuring data protection within a cloud-based environment [11]. Thus this drawback of cloud 
security is overcome in this paper, by deploying VPN services in the cloud to ensure data 
protecting and confidentiality of sensitive information. Few advantages of moving VPNs to 
the cloud are the security enhancements provided to users. Central management and 
flexibility in terms of third party data manipulation and provision of integrated security 
policies providing superior protection are of at most importance.