Patent ID: 8332644

Claim:
A method comprising: storing a shared secret authentication vector and a shared secret key at a service network, the shared secret key being extracted by the service network and shared between the service network and a station; determining an existence of a shared cryptographic primitive between the service network and the station; negotiating an authentication and key agreement method based upon the existence of the shared cryptographic primitive; transmitting information to the station from the service network that enables the station to compute the shared secret key stored at the service network; receiving a request for service at the service network from the station; adjusting, at the service network, a verification value at each usage of the shared secret key at the station in response to receipt of the request for service from the station to facilitate mutual authentication between the service network and the station; and transmitting, from the service network to the station, information corresponding to the verification value that forms a part of a verification computation enabling the station to authenticate the service network.