VPN connection remains "alive" after d/c Meraki MX68

LSStream
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VPN connection remains "alive" after d/c Meraki MX68

Hi there.

 

I have a company provided (and pre-configured) Meraki MX68 device through which I connect to my company's intranet in a secure manner. As instructed by my company's IT department, my ISP cable connects to port 1 and my computer to port 3.

 

I wanted to test the speed of my native ISP connection, so I disconnected the cable from port 1 (Verizon ISP from the ONT) and disconnected the cable from port 3 (my Windows 10 computer) and connected the two cables together with a Cat5 coupler, removing the Meraki from the path entirely.

 

Interesting thing is, I STILL maintain my secure connection to work, even without the Meraki. I am connecting to and using secure servers that I theoretically shouldn't have any access to, as if I am still connected!

 

An ipconfig reveals a new adapter that wasn't there when the Meraki was connected, called PPP adapter xxVPN (where xx are the initials of my company), but without much info about this particular adapter connection. I also have my Ethernet adapter connection, which indicates an IP from Verizon.net.

 

Can anyone possibly explain what is happening here and indicate whether this represents a potential security risk? I am an engineer and do understand basic networking and configuration, but I'm not at all an expert in VPN connections or the Meraki.

 

Thanks so much in advance for any insights!

 

Stu

 

 

 

2 REPLIES 2
ww
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

If its a company managed pc they can configure  whatever they like. Must be a pre configured  client vpn that kicks in when connected  on public internet.

Thank you.

 

I agree that this must be what is happening. It looks like the VPN connection is occurring by a WAN Miniport (IKEv2) adapter. However, despite searching around, I can't seem to find where the configuration settings reside (e.g., what activates this connection, and what are the connection parameters). The best I can tell, it uses the Remote Access Connection Manager service to connect, which is configured to use my local credentials to authenticate the VPN connection.

 

I don't recall having this type of VPN connection before. I wonder if the admins did some sort of remote update in the past several months. Presumably, using the Meraki is a more robust and less computation-intensive, hardware-based VPN method, although admittedly, this is mere speculation on my part. Maybe I don't even need the Meraki anymore...

 

Thanks again.

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