Wi-Fi Authentication Demystified

Authentication is a critical part of any network security policy. Authentication validates the identity of a user or device, which is an important point as most people only look at authentication as authenticating the client. When using a mutual authentication scheme, not only is the client authenticated, but so is the network itself. This process allows the first device to authenticate the second and the second device to authenticate the first. Initial wireless authentication used a wireless encryption method, known as WEP to provide the authentication. The idea being that if both sides had a common encryptions key it would serve as a way to provide proper authentication.