A Re-examination of Network Address Translation Security

The use of Network Address Translation (NAT) has greatly expanded in recent years. While originally an address management technique it has often been used for security. However, there are many implementations of NAT that are inherently insecure. Recently investigation into some of these has shown increased potential for security holes in NAT deployments. An understanding of the risks associated with NAT and the basic networking topics supporting a research in this area are critical to an information assurance student. This paper describes the basic operation of NAT, outlines one such security problem and its’ mitigation, develops a testing methodology for use in information security curricula and suggests topics to be covered for student success.