SNMPv3: A security enhancement for SNMP

Simple network management protocol (SNMP) is the most widely-used network management protocol on TCP/IP-based networks. The functionality of SNMP was enhanced with the publication of SNMPv2. However, both these versions of SNMP lack security features, notably authentication and privacy, that are required to fully exploit SNMP. A recent set of RFCs, known collectively as SNMPv3, correct this deficiency. This article outlines the overall network management framework defined in SNMPv3, and then looks at the principal security facilities defined in SNMPv3: authentication, privacy, and access control.