How to Cheat at VoIP Security

Chapter 6

Confirm User Identity

Solutions in this chapter:

■ 802.1x and 802.11i

■ Public Key Infrastructure

■ Minor Authentication Methods

Introduction

Authentication is a measure of trust. The point of this chapter is to illustrate trust complexities and to cover authentication of both user identity and device identity. These two identities are not equal. Authentication in the networking world, in general, is based either on using a shared secret (you are authenticated if you know the secret) or on public key-based methods with certificates (you prove your identity by possessing the correct private key).

Authentication establishes the identities of devices and users to a degree that is in accord with your security policies. Authorization, on the other ...