VPN Service Links Infonet, Internet

By InternetWeek.com

Infonet Services Corp. Thursday detailed a new virtual private network (VPN) service that lets customers extend their secure connections over ISP links.

Infonet's IVPN Off-Net Service is designed to give customers end-to-end secure connections spanning the Infonet World Network and the public Internet. IVPN Off-Net uses IPSec tunneling and encryption to provide secure, dedicated connections between customer sites using the public Internet as its transport. IVPN Off-Net is also available to Infonet customers using Infonet Dedicated Internet Access.

IVPN Off-Net Service uses digital certificates and Infonet's Certificate Authority services provided by VeriSign.

Using the public Internet as its transport should yield cost savings for customers and make encryption easier and faster. It can also help in furnishing extranet connectivity to business partners that aren't Infonet customers.