Patent ID: 8892869

Claim:
A method for authenticating network devices that form part of a communication network comprising: receiving, at an access controller, a first digital certificate associated with a network device from a management system that obtained the first digital certificate from a tag applied to the network device; receiving, at the access controller, a second digital certificate associated with the network device from the network device requesting to become part of a communication network; verifying, via the access controller, authenticity of the second digital certificate associated with the network device; determining, via the access controller, whether the network device should be allowed to become part of the communication network based on a comparison of at least a portion of the first digital certificate received from the management system and the second digital certificate associated with the network device; and allowing, via the access controller, the network device to become part of the communication network when the determination that the network device should be allowed to become part of the communication network is made.