Which encryption algorithm is used for encrypting SD-WAN data plane traffic?

Cisco SD-WAN utilizes AES-256 GCM (Advanced Encryption Standard with a 256-bit key in Galois/Counter Mode) as the robust encryption algorithm for securing data plane traffic. This mode provides both strong confidentiality (encryption) and data integrity (authentication) efficiently within the IPsec framework.

Triple DES is an older, less secure, and less performant encryption algorithm that is not the primary choice for modern Cisco SD-WAN data plane encryption.

While AES is the encryption standard, AES-128 uses a smaller key size than AES-256, providing a lower level of security than the preferred AES-256 GCM in Cisco SD-WAN.

IPsec is a protocol suite used for secure communication, but it is not an encryption algorithm itself; AES-256 GCM is the specific algorithm employed within the IPsec suite.