What Is A Pre Shared Key For Vpn

Some people are happy to exchange them over email and others not particularly because of iso iec 27002.

What is a pre shared key for vpn. A pre shared key psk or shared secret is a string of text a vpn virtual private network or other service expects to get before it receives any other credentials such as a username and password. A pre shared key psk is a key both peers use to identify themselves to each other. Vpn tracker provides setup guides for all major gateway manufacturers.

The pre shared key is merely used for authentication not for encryption. After its creation the psk needs to be shared with every device that has to use it. How to generate secure pre shared keys psk for an ipsec vpn i build vpns regularly and one of the problems that comes up regularly is how to exchange psk s.

In a real world scenario you would specify this on a vpn gateway at one site such as a vpn device and then specify the exact same key on the other site s vpn device. If one pre shared key is different from the other then the authentication will not be successful. The pre shared key sometimes called shared secret is basically a form of password for your vpn gateway which is set up on your device.

The pre shared key is specific to your gateway and can be found in your device s configuration guide. Ipsec tunnels rely on the isakmp ike protocols to exchange the keys for encryption etc. However note that psks are not exactly secure by themselves.

A pre shared key psk is a string of characters so basically a password that various services including vpns rely on as an authentication method. Pre shared keys in ipsec the following section is related to site to site vpns only and not to remote access vpns.