Network Authentication

User authentication is verifying the identity of an information system or network user. This is typically done through authentication protocols, whereby users must provide a username, password, and possibly some form of identification. Network security authentication is used for various reasons, including validating that the users are who they claim to be, restricting access to certain resources and services, or protecting assets such as information.

Typical WiFi Router authentication is via shared key authentication – a shared key (aka password) is manually set on the router, and any devices wanting to connect must have that shared key. The key is encrypted so it (theoretically) can’t be viewed by any outside parties according to the protocol you choose. Here are the 3 most common:

• WEP (Wireless Equivalent Privacy): This is an older standard (created in 1997) that uses a static 64- or 128-bit key. Unfortunately, it’s easily cracked, which means it is strongly recommended not to use it.
• WPA (Wireless Protected Access): WPA was introduced in 2003, and it introduces the ability to use stronger encryption (256-bit), integrity checks to determine if packets have been captured or altered, and TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) which is a stronger encryption method for the key itself.
• WPA2/3 (Wireless Protected Access): WPA2 features AES encryption (more secure than TKIP), and the introduction of a Enterprise mode (also known as WPA2-EAP) which allows WPA to synchronize with an exteran RADIUS server. WPA3, introduced in 2018, includes GCMP-256 encryption, stronger brute force attack protection, and a more secure handshake.

Network-level authentication for a remote desktop is a method whereby the user's session is established after the user has successfully entered their user id and password. The network then authenticates the connection by comparing the entered password to some other value obtained from the server and sending back an authentication code (also known as a ticket) to be entered by the user. The advantage of this system is that there is one set of credentials between the server and client, which minimizes or eliminates any replay attacks.

In cybersecurity, authentication plays a critical role in allowing users to gain access to the network and resources of an organization. It also provided a high assurance regarding network devices and services, such as email, web, file storage, and policies. Authentication is performed at the user layer, at the transport layer, at the application layer, and in some cases, at the link layer. Moreover, authentication present proof that the user is who they claim to be and prevent unauthorized users from accessing computers or networks.

The best authentication protocol has the highest level of security and the smallest amount of overhead. This can be achieved by implementing a sufficiently secure mechanism to authenticate user identities to the system and using only that authentication mechanism for all types of user authentication. Achieving high security with minimal overhead is done primarily by using strong cryptography and enforcing strong password policies. Strong cryptography includes hardware-based encryption such as Trusted Platform Module (TPM) or Intel Secure Key Platform (SSP).