Patent ID: 8031874

Claim:
A station to collect information corresponding to security in a network system, comprising: a wireless communicator to transmit a request packet to search one or more wireless networks in at least one external device and to receive a response packet to the request packet; an authentication method determiner to analyze the response packet to search for one or more wireless networks and to determine an authentication method supported by each of the searched wireless networks; and a storage unit to store the determined authentication method of each of the searched wireless networks, wherein the authentication method determiner determines whether setting of security corresponding to a connection to the wireless network is required and determines whether the search for the authentication method is to be performed using an authentication server if it is determined that the setting of the security corresponding to the connection to the wireless network is required, and wherein an authentication method negotiator of the station attempts a virtual authentication of a connection to the wireless network without providing a network key to receive at least one authentication method from the authentication server according to a determination result of the authentication method determiner according to a determination result of the authentication method determiner.