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About the IU VPN

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VPN basics

A virtual private network (VPN) allows you to temporarily create or join a private network across an existing public network by creating an encrypted tunnel between two hosts. The encryption protects the data your computer or mobile device transmits and receives over the internet, enabling secure remote access to restricted online resources.

Many public wireless networks (such as those provided by hotels and restaurants) are not encrypted, leaving transmitted data unprotected and vulnerable to electronic surveillance. Even data originating from a secure network (for example, one provided by your employer or school) may be vulnerable if they are being transmitted to another secure network over the public internet. To prevent data from being intercepted (especially confidential financial data, or data protected by federal laws, such as FERPA and HIPAA data), businesses, government offices, universities, and other institutions use VPN systems to encrypt data transmitted between their secure networks and remote users.

VPN at IU

At Indiana University, UITS delivers a centrally managed, fault-tolerant SSL VPN service for use by all IU campuses. (Your campus may have additional or alternative VPN options; if you have questions or need help, contact your campus Support Center.)

Establishing an IU VPN connection creates a secure tunnel between your off-campus computer or mobile device and the IU network, allowing you to access online services and resources that are configured to refuse connections from outside the IU network (such as IU Print queues, certain library databases, and most network storage devices). Also, you need an IU VPN connection to make a remote desktop connection from off campus.

Note:
Whenever you are off campus and cannot connect to an IU service, connect to the IU VPN to check whether that fixes the problem.

Connect to the VPN

For the greatest reliability across the widest range of platforms and network configurations, UITS recommends using the Pulse Secure SSL VPN client (produced by Pulse Secure, LLC), where available, to connect to IU's SSL VPN. The Pulse Secure client is the official replacement for the Junos Pulse client previously used at IU.

For instructions for connecting to IU's SSL VPN, see:

Note:
  • IU's SSL VPN is for off-campus use only; it will not allow you to establish a connection if your device is connected (via wireless or Ethernet) to an IU network.
  • To ensure accountability of network communication, the University Information Policy Office prohibits group accounts from connecting to IU's SSL VPN. To make a VPN connection, you must log in using your personal IU username and passphrase.
  • You can connect a maximum of two devices at a time to IU's SSL VPN. If you try to connect a third device while you already have a connection running on two other devices, you'll see a prompt asking whether you want to maintain the existing connections and cancel the new connection request, or break one of the existing connections and establish a new connection.

If you have questions or need help, contact your campus Support Center.

IU Groups VPN

IU's Groups VPN provides dedicated VPN IP space for teams needing to restrict remote access to their internal administrative environments. Access permissions for Groups VPN IP ranges are controlled with Active Directory security groups. All users must authenticate via Two-Step Login (Duo). A VPN IP address from a team's dedicated IP space is assigned only if the user is a member of the appropriate AD security group. For more, see Use the IU Groups VPN to restrict remote access to your team's administrative resources.

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This is document ajrq in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2019-04-01 12:39:54.

Contact us

For help or to comment, email the UITS Support Center.