Wireless network token-based fast authentication

Abstract

Wireless Networks based on WIFI or WIMAX become popular and are used in many places as compliment network to wired LAN to support mobility. There is performance issues associated with the usage of WLAN that put some restriction on adapting this technology everywhere. Securing the open access to avoid attacks at the physical and MAC layer with high speed performance during authentication is considered an important issue. IEEE 802.1x, suggested a solution to address the security issue at the MAC layer, and there are varieties of implementations address this solution but they require long period of time to complete the authentication. In this paper a new technique for securing the WLAN network using fast token-based authentication has been invented to address the vulnerability inherited by the wireless network at the MAC layer. This technique is based on an authentication server distributing a security token, public authentication key, and network access key parameter to eligible mobile client MCs during registration. All messages will be encrypted during registration using temporary derived token key, but it will use derived valid token key during authentication. The token, the authentication key and the access network parameter key will be only distributed during registration. This makes the security parameters known only to authentication server, authenticator and MC. Attackers would be unlikely able to know the token and other security keys because they are only exchanged during registration. Moreover, this technique will avoid the exchange of public keys during authentication such as the one used in other existing technologies, and consequently speedup the authentication phase which is very critical to wireless technologies.