LAUSR

IEEE 802.11i authentication framework is composed of the 802.1x and an extensible authentication protocol (EAP) mechanism. One of the most applicable techniques in the EAP methods is EAP-transport layer security (EAP-TLS). The EAP-TLS implementation issues are high execution time; high number of data exchanges between two parties and possibility of closing connection as a result of modification in the contents of the handshake messages, which are all addressed in this paper. This research analyses the EAP-TLS in WLANs to improve this method’s efficiency in terms of the security analysis, time and memory usage. Based on the results, this research proposes an enhanced method with a discrete cryptographic mechanisms and a distinct handshake structure, which reduces the number of steps in the handshake protocol. This enhanced method also provides robust security compared to the original EAP-TLS with approximately the same level of memory usage, which reduces execution time significantly.