2.2. Caveats and Assumptions

The suite of IPsec protocols and associated default cryptographic algorithms are designed to provide high quality security for Internet traffic. However, the security offered by use of these protocols ultimately depends on the quality of their implementation, which is outside the scope of this set of standards. Moreover, the security of a computer system or network is a function of many factors, including personnel, physical, procedural, compromising emanations, and computer security practices. Thus, IPsec is only one part of an overall system security architecture.

Finally, the security afforded by the use of IPsec is critically dependent on many aspects of the operating environment in which the IPsec implementation executes. For example, defects in OS security, poor quality of random number sources, sloppy system management protocols and practices, etc., can all degrade the security provided by IPsec. As above, none of these environmental attributes are within the scope of this or other IPsec standards.