Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for Remote Access IPSec or L2TP Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections to the (^Company^) corporate network.

Scope

This policy applies to all (^Company^) employees, contractors, consultants, temporaries, and other workers including all personnel affiliated with third parties utilizing VPNs to access the (^Company^) network. This policy applies to implementations of VPN that are directed through an IPSec Concentrator.

Policy

Approved (^Company^) employees and authorized third parties (customers, vendors, etc.) may utilize the benefits of VPNs, which are a "user managed" service. This means that the user is responsible for selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP), coordinating installation, installing any required software, and paying associated fees. Further details may be found in the Remote Access Policy.

Additionally,

1. It is the responsibility of employees with VPN privileges to ensure that unauthorized users are not allowed access to (^Company^) internal networks. 

2. VPN use is to be controlled using either a one-time password authentication such as a token device or a public/private key system with a strong passphrase. 

3. When actively connected to the corporate network, VPNs will force all traffic to and from the PC over the VPN tunnel: all other traffic will be dropped. 

4. Dual (split) tunneling is NOT permitted; only one network connection is allowed. 

5. VPN gateways will be set up and managed by (^Company^) network operational groups. 

6. All computers connected to (^Company^) internal networks via VPN or any other technology must use the most up-to-date anti-virus software that is the corporate standard (provide URL to this software); this includes personal computers. 

7. VPN users will be automatically disconnected from (^Company^)'s network after thirty minutes of inactivity. The user must then logon again to reconnect to the network. Pings or other artificial network processes are not to be used to keep the connection open. 

8. The VPN concentrator is limited to an absolute connection time of 24 hours. 

9. Users of computers that are not (^Company^)-owned equipment must configure the equipment to comply with (^Company^)'s VPN and Network policies. 

10. Only Infosec-approved VPN clients may be used. 

11. By using VPN technology with personal equipment, users must understand that their machines are a de facto extension of (^Company^)'s network, and as such are subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to (^Company^)-owned equipment, i.e., their machines must be configured to comply with Infosec's Security Policies. 

Policy Compliance

Compliance Measurement

The Infosec team will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but not limited to, periodic walk-thrus, video monitoring, business tool reports, internal and external audits, and feedback to the policy owner.

Exceptions

Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Infosec Team in advance.

Non-Compliance

An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Related Standards, Policies and Processes

• Remote Access Policy

Definitions and Terms

The following definition and terms can be found in the SANS Glossary located at:

https://www.sans.org/security-resources/glossary-of-terms/

• IPSec Concentrator