Nortel's new options to allow VPN

Telecom hardware maker Nortel Networks announced on Wednesday that it would include new features in its switches and routers to enable Internet service providers to offer VPN (virtual private network) services. The new options--dubbed the VPN Services Framework--give ISPs the ability to offer clients VPN access as an add-on service instead of clients having to buy the hardware and doing it themselves.

The new services will include VPN access over the Secure Sockets Layer, a communication encryption technology supported by all Web browsers, as well as traditional Internet protocol security, or IPSec, VPNs.