Analyze the IPsec’s two protection mechanisms.|Course hero helper

Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH) are two protection mechanisms in IPsec that offer different types of protection, authentication, and confidentiality.

Authentication Header (AH) provides message authentication and integrity protection for IP datagrams. AH generates a message authentication code (MAC) based on the IP header and payload. This MAC ensures that the datagram has not been modified during transit and provides authentication of the sender’s identity. AH does not provide confidentiality, as the payload is not encrypted.

On the other hand, Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) provides confidentiality, as well as integrity and authentication protection. ESP encrypts the IP payload and provides a MAC to protect the encrypted data from modification. ESP can also be used without encryption, providing authentication and integrity protection similar to AH.

In terms of which mode provides more protection, it depends on the specific use case. The Transport mode is used to protect traffic between two endpoints, while the Tunnel mode is used to protect traffic between two networks.

Transport mode provides end-to-end protection and is used when the source and destination hosts are the only ones that need to see the IP data. The header of the original IP packet is protected, but the source and destination addresses are visible. Tunnel mode, on the other hand, provides protection for the entire IP packet and hides the original source and destination addresses by adding a new IP header. This mode is commonly used for virtual private networks (VPNs) and protects traffic between networks.

Both modes provide different levels of protection and are suitable for different use cases. Generally, Tunnel mode provides more protection as it encrypts the entire IP packet and hides the original source and destination addresses, making it more difficult for attackers to intercept or tamper with the data. However, it may also introduce more overhead due to the additional IP header.