A communication node and a method of recovering security data following a power failure

摘要

A security gateway IPsec-capable node (2), for use in a virtual private network (1) contains a CPU (4) having a volatile memory (5) in which is stored a security association database for controlling secure communication between a network and external users. A controller (6) periodically stores the security association database in a non-volatile memory, such as a disc memory (7). When power is restored following a power failure, the controller (6) retrieves the latest security association database from the memory (7) and injects it into the volatile memory (5). The security gateway can then restore secure communication with external users.