ATM and VPN's

[David Gillett]

  A PVC, like a VLAN, is a convenient fiction for interoperation with other
equipment and systems.  Neither is intended to be relied upon heavily as a
security measure.  A VPN happens to provide a similarly simple interface
fiction, but the mechanism behind it *does* secure the data from prying
eyes.
  Different organizations may, of course, have different ideas as to whether
trusting their ATM carrier constitutes acceptable security policy.  Many
probably feel that it does.  My position is not that it isn't, but that the
decision to entrust unencrypted data traffic to *any* third-party carrier
should be backed by such a (signed-off) policy decision, and not just taken
as a default.

David Gillett
Enterprise Server Manager, Niku Corp.
(650) 701-2702
"Transforming the Service Economy"

-----Original Message-----
From: VPN Mailing List [mailto:VPN at SECURITYFOCUS.COM]On Behalf Of
Jeffery Eric Contr 95 CS/SCBA
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 2:38 PM
To: VPN at SECURITYFOCUS.COM
Subject: ATM and VPN's


Help me out- What's the point of a VPN over ATM?  If you establish a PVC
that's the same thing, isn't it?

My understanding is that VPN's came about due to the insecurity of IP; ATM
doesn't have these weaknesses so again, what's the point of a VPN over ATM?

I can see a VPN through an IP LAN that connects to an ATM WAN and then back
to an IP LAN; however, that's different than creating a VPN over ATM.

Eric Jeffery, MCSE
Network Systems Analyst

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