The Society of Convergence Knowledge Transactions ISSN:2287-8920(Print) 융복합지식학회논문지

Since COVID-19, a significant number of companies have continued to adopt a hybrid work model that combines office-based and remote work, focusing on enhancing flexibility and efficiency. To strengthen online security, improve cost efficiency, support access to internal networks, and manage users through authentication, many companies and individuals have chosen OpenVPN. OpenVPN is an open-source Virtual Private Network (VPN) software that uses SSL/TLS-based encryption protocols to provide a secure internet connection. Many remote workers use WiFi not only at home but also in various public places such as cafes and subways, where limitations in wireless bandwidth can lead to performance degradation in OpenVPN’s encryption and tunneling processes. This performance degradation and increased latency in OpenVPN can significantly affect large data transfers, real-time video conferencing, and other essential remote work activities, ultimately reducing work efficiency. This paper aims to measure the security and optimal network connection service quality (QoS) performance of OpenVPN in a WiFi environment and suggest methods to improve the efficiency of remote work environments. The research method involved collecting and analyzing packet delay changes, packet loss and jitter, end-to-end packet delay, and download/upload response times based on unauthenticated and sniffing attack scenarios in an experimental network using a private WiFi router and OpenVPN. Tools such as Wireshark were used for this analysis. The results of quality measurements and the analysis of collected packets showed an increase in the delay parameters, an increase in packet loss from 8.1% to 9.6%, a decrease in throughput from 83.7% to 70.2%, and a reduction in bandwidth by 10-30%, indicating a decline in network quality. This was interpreted as being due to the increased time required for encryption and encapsulation processes caused by the unauthenticated attack. This study indicates that further research on simplified encryption methods and encapsulation is needed in the future.