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Security Dictionary
Can't tell 'smtp' from 'snmp'? Find the precise meaning of these and hundreds of other security-related terms in our convenient and up-to-date Security Dictionary.
virtual private network (VPN)
(I) A restricted-use, logical (i.e., artificial or simulated)
computer network that is constructed from the system resources of
a relatively public, physical (i.e., real) network (such as the
Internet), often by using encryption (located at hosts or
gateways), and often by tunneling links of the virtual network
across the real network.
(C) For example, if a corporation has LANs at several different
sites, each connected to the Internet by a firewall, the
corporation could create a VPN by (a) using encrypted tunnels to
connect from firewall to firewall across the Internet and (b) not
allowing any other traffic through the firewalls. A VPN is
generally less expensive to build and operate than a dedicated
real network, because the virtual network shares the cost of
system resources with other users of the real network.
