Cisco Systems VPN Client

The Cisco Systems VPN Client was a software application for connecting to a virtual private network. The client makes remote resources of another network available in a secure way as if the user was connected directly to that "private" network.^[4]

In July 29, 2011, Cisco announced the end of life of the product. No further product updates were released after July 30, 2012, and support have ceased in July 29, 2014.^[5] A suggested migration option for customers is the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.^[6]

Installation

The client is normally distributed with an executable installer and profile file(s), which contain all the necessary information to easily connect to a network.

A .pcf (or profile configuration file) is used to configure the VPN client for connecting to the remote server.

Availability

The software is not free but is often installed on university and business computers in accordance with a site-license. As with most corporate licenses, administrators are allowed to freely distribute the software to users within their network.

Compatibility

VPN Client 4.9.01.0230 beta added support for Mac OS X 10.6.^[7] Stable version 4.9.01.0180 appears to lack that support; 4.9.00.0050 explicitly did not support versions of Mac OS X later than 10.5.^[8]

VPN Client 5.0.07.0290 added support for 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.^[9]

Security

The client uses profile files (.pcf) that store VPN passwords either hashed with type 7, or stored as cleartext. A vulnerability has been identified,^[10] and those passwords can easily be decoded using software or online services.^[11] To work around these issues, network administrators are advised to use the Mutual Group Authentication feature, or use unique passwords (that aren't related to other important network passwords).^[10]

See also

• Virtual private network
• Internet privacy
• Cisco Systems

References