Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:13, 22 October 2007

Revision as of 04:32, 27 January 2008

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'''Protected [[Extensible Authentication Protocol]]''', '''Protected EAP''', or simply '''PEAP''' (pronounced ''"peep"''), is a method to securely transmit [[authentication]] information, including [[password]]s, over wired or [[wireless LAN|wireless network]]s. It was jointly developed by [[Cisco Systems]], [[Microsoft]], and [[RSA Security]]. Note that '''PEAP''' is not an encryption protocol; as with other [[Extensible Authentication Protocol|EAP]] types it only authenticates a client into a network.

PEAP uses only [[server-side]] [[public key certificate]]s to authenticate clientsthe byserver. It then creatingcreates an [[encryption|encrypted]] [[Secure Sockets Layer|SSL]]/[[Transport Layer Security|TLS]] [[Tunneling protocol|tunnel]] between the client and the authentication server. The ensuing exchange of authentication information to authenticate the client is then encrypted and user credentials are safe from eavesdropping.

PEAP is a joint proposal by [[Cisco Systems]], [[Microsoft]] and [[RSA Security]] as an open standard. It is already widely available in products, and provides very good security. It is similar in design to [[EAP-TTLS]], requiring only a server-side PKI certificate to create a secure TLS tunnel to protect user authentication.