ZyXEL Communications ZyWALL 110 User Manual page 412

• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a newer method of data encryption that also uses a
secret key. AES applies a 128-bit key to 128-bit blocks of data. It is faster than 3DES.
Some ZyWALL/USGs also offer stronger forms of AES that apply 192-bit or 256-bit keys to 128-bit
blocks of data.
In most ZyWALL/USGs, you can select one of the following authentication algorithms for each
proposal. The algorithms are listed in order from weakest to strongest.
• MD5 (Message Digest 5) produces a 128-bit digest to authenticate packet data.
• SHA1 (Secure Hash Algorithm) produces a 160-bit digest to authenticate packet data.
• SHA256 (Secure Hash Algorithm) produces a 256-bit digest to authenticate packet data.
• SHA512 (Secure Hash Algorithm) produces a 512-bit digest to authenticate packet data.
See Diffie-Hellman (DH) Key Exchange on page 412
Diffie-Hellman (DH) Key Exchange
The ZyWALL/USG and the remote IPSec router use DH public-key cryptography to establish a
shared secret. The shared secret is then used to generate encryption keys for the IKE SA and IPSec
SA. In main mode, this is done in steps 3 and 4, as illustrated next.
Figure 270 IKE SA: Main Negotiation Mode, Steps 3 - 4: DH Key Exchange
DH public-key cryptography is based on DH key groups. Each key group is a fixed number of bits
long. The longer the key, the more secure the encryption, but also the longer it takes to encrypt
and decrypt information. For example, DH2 keys (1024 bits) are more secure than DH1 keys (768
bits), but DH2 keys take longer to encrypt and decrypt.
Authentication
Before the ZyWALL/USG and remote IPSec router establish an IKE SA, they have to verify each
other's identity. This process is based on pre-shared keys and router identities.
In main mode, the ZyWALL/USG and remote IPSec router authenticate each other in steps 5 and 6,
as illustrated below. The identities are also encrypted using the encryption algorithm and
encryption key the ZyWALL/USG and remote IPSec router selected in previous steps.
Chapter 22 IPSec VPN
Diffie-Hellman key exchange
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ZyWALL/USG Series User's Guide
for more information about DH key groups.
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