AMX MVP-7500/8400 manual EAP Authentication, EAP Characteristics, EAP Method Characteristics

Appendix B - Wireless Technology

EAP Authentication

EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an Enterprise authentication protocol that can be used in both a wired and wireless network environment. EAP requires the use of an 802.1x Authentication Server, also known as a RADIUS server. Although over 40 different EAP methods are currently defined, the current internal Modero 802.11g wireless card and accompanying firmware only support the following EAP methods (listed from simplest to most complex):

EAP-LEAP (Cisco Light EAP)

EAP-FAST (Cisco Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling, a.k.a. LEAPv2)

The following use certificates: EAP-PEAP (Protected EAP)

EAP-TTLS (Tunneled Transport Layer Security) EAP-TLS(Transport Layer Security)

EAP requires the use of an 802.1x authentication server (also known as a RADIUS server). Sophisticated Access Points (such as Cisco) can use a built-in RADIUS server. The most common RADIUS servers used in wireless networks today are:

Microsoft Sever 2003

Juniper Odyssey (once called Funk Odyssey) Meetinghouse AEGIS Server DeviceScape RADIUS Server

Cisco Secure ACS

EAP Characteristics

The following table outlines the differences among the various EAP Methods from most secure (at the top of the list) to the least secure (at the bottom of the list):

EAP Method Characteristics

Method:	Credential Type:	Authentication:	Pros:	Cons:
EAP-TLS	• Certificates	• Certificate is based on a	• Highest	• Difficult to
		two-way authentication	Security	deploy
EAP-TTLS	• Certificates	• Client authentication is	• High Security	• Moderately
	• Fixed Passwords	done via password and		difficult to
	• One-time passwords	certificates		deploy
		• Server authentication is
	(tokens)
		done via certificates
EAP-PEAP	• Certificates	• Client authentication is	• High Security	• Moderately
	• Fixed Passwords	done via password and		difficult to
	• One-time passwords	certificates		deploy
		• Server authentication is
	(tokens)
		done via certificates
EAP-LEAP	• Certificates	• Authentication is based on	• Easy	• Susceptible to
	• Fixed Passwords	MS-CHAP and	deployment	dictionary
	• One-time passwords	MS-CHAPv2		attacks
		authentication protocols
	(tokens)
EAP-FAST	• Certificates	• N/A	• N/A	• N/A
	• Fixed Passwords
	• One-time passwords
	(tokens)

166 MVP-7500/8400 Modero Viewpoint Wireless Touch Panels