What is a reverse VPN?

[IAmAndre]

Hi,

 

I've heard this term today at a conference. I understood the concept, but I can't find a broader description on Google. Basically I talked with a representative of a security company, and she told me that they offer a service allowing web developers for instance to have every request sent to their server to transit through the servers of the security company first. It would then be redirected to the actual server only after having been checked against all kind of attacks. I like the concept, but I still don't know why it's called "Reverse VPN". I also know that some changes would be made to the DNS tables so that the domain is linked to their servers.

Can anybody explain?

[Billy_Mays]

16 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Hi,

 

I've heard this term today at a conference. I understood the concept, but I can't find a broader description on Google. Basically I talked with a representative of a security company, and she told me that they offer a service allowing web developers for instance to have every request sent to their server to transit through the servers of the security company first. It would then be redirected to the actual server only after having been checked against all kind of attacks. I like the concept, but I still don't know why it's called "Reverse VPN". I also know that some changes would be made to the DNS tables so that the domain is linked to their servers.

Can anybody explain?

It's NVP no I'm joking around but I seriously don't know what it is

[crzyces]

It sounds like they were sitting around a table trying to think of what to make a common service sound unique. "Hmm, SPI. *Super Protected Internet". "No Bob, that sounds lame. We'll never pitch that to a room full of 20, 30, and 40 year olds who pretend they are still 20. What's cool?" "I got it!" "What is it Herman 'SIGH' " How about "RVPN?" "What?" "Reverse VPN" Random 53 year old security board member: "What's a VPN, my grandson always tells his friends "Don't worry, they'll never know, we're on a VPN." I thought he was smoking that synthetic weed stuff that doesn't show up in pee. Heh, when we were kids we used to try to smoke dried banana peels. idiots." Herman "No, Reverse Virtual Proxy Network." "I like it! Sounds hip, but all we are doing is acting as a virus stop gap. Tons of companies do that." Board member: "So it's not fake pot..." Department Head "I like it. Reverse Virtual Proxy Network. It rolls off the tongue. Not a word Herman, I let the CEO know I thought of it. See the irony here Herman? This is a reverse VPN of sorts. You thought of it, it will pass through me, and then I will pass it to the senior execs, then, if they don't like it you get fired, if they do, I'll buy you lunch off the food truck. No matter what it comes back to you."

 

In reality, a real reverse VPN built in would be pretty cool. An auto race of a VPN for all traffic that tries to transmit packets with certain signatures. Wait, they already have those... Whatever. I just think they think it's a cool name for a service, but I doubt it is a real RVPN.

[crzyces]

15 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

It's NVP no I'm joking around but I seriously don't know what it is

I thought NVP was just coding that checks for abnormalities in code. Like a Malware program uses for a registry. It sees the keys that looks and do something. Their key is the same, but redirects somewhere else, the NVP algorithm in the Viri protection spots the abnormality, and stops it before it can make the change to the registry.

 

Is that what they meant? Again, lots of companies already do it. I think they were just trying to make it sound cool.

[brwainer]

Their description of their reverse VPN service sounds similar to Cloudflare-type protection, which can also be described as a proxy. In fact, their product probably has both the features of a proxy and a VPN.

[Mornincupofhate]

This isn't called a "reverse VPN", it's called a reverse proxy. There's no tunneling involved.

 

This is basically what cloudflare is.

 

* How a normal website works: Your_Connection --> Actual Website (the user can see this website's IP address)

 

* How a Cloudflare backended website works: Your_Connection --> Cloudflare Servers --> Actual Website (this user only sees the cloudflare server's IP address (which makes it stand up to ddos attacks easier, especially layer 4 floods))

 

All the Cloudflare servers do are pass http requests from one place to another, there's no tunneling involved; Although, if an attacker was to get the client's website's real IP address instead of the Cloudflare server, he would be able to attack it freely as none of it is going through Cloudflare's servers.

 

 

[IAmAndre]

36 minutes ago, Mornincupofhate said:

This isn't called a "reverse VPN", it's called a reverse proxy. There's no tunneling involved.

Interesting. Then why "reverse" though? What's the difference with a "regular" proxy?

[Mornincupofhate]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

Interesting. Then why "reverse" though? What's the difference with a "regular" proxy?

A regular proxy is used like a VPN. You forward your data packets to it, and the site doesn't know what IP address you're connecting from.

 

A reverse proxy, instead, hides the website's backend IP address from the user.

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, Mornincupofhate said:

A regular proxy is used like a VPN. You forward your data packets to it, and the site doesn't know what IP address you're connecting from.

 

A reverse proxy, instead, hides the website's backend IP address from the user.

Do you mean that the website does know the user's IP address?

[Mornincupofhate]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

Do you mean that the website does know the user's IP address?

In a reverse proxy, yes, the website does know the user's IP address. It's just the user can't see the website's IP address. The user only sees the reverse proxy's IP address.

[crzyces]

Just now, Mornincupofhate said:

In a reverse proxy, yes, the website does know the user's IP address. It's just the user can't see the website's IP address. The user only sees the reverse proxy's IP address.

Kinda like a 3rd party running a PN for you. That's essentially what we all said, no?

[Mornincupofhate]

Just now, crzyces said:

Kinda like a 3rd party running a PN for you. That's essentially what we all said, no?

I don't look at other people's posts when answering questions.

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, crzyces said:

Kinda like a 3rd party running a PN for you. That's essentially what we all said, no?

I didn't read it neither. Try to go to the point without several lines of jokes

[crzyces]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

I didn't read it neither. Try to go to the point without several lines of jokes

Too boring that way.