Well, the perimeter SECURITY issues mentioned above, plus a firewall should give the option of VPN with or without trust. For example, I would prefer all sessions between my firewall and my clients and BUSINESS PARTNERS to be encrypted - to be VPNs. But, I WANT all of them to run up against my firewall if they try to do anything besides what I permit. On the other hand, if I DIAL in from the speaker's lounge at a conference, I would like a private connection (that is to say, encrypted) that also looks and feels like a virtual "inside" connection, just as if I was sitting in the office.

Well, the perimeter security issues mentioned above, plus a firewall should give the option of VPN with or without trust. For example, I would prefer all sessions between my firewall and my clients and business partners to be encrypted - to be VPNs. But, I want all of them to run up against my firewall if they try to do anything besides what I permit. On the other hand, if I dial in from the speaker's lounge at a conference, I would like a private connection (that is to say, encrypted) that also looks and feels like a virtual "inside" connection, just as if I was sitting in the office.