> On Aug 11, 2017, at 7:45 AM, Bucklaew, Jerry <j...@buffalo.edu> wrote:
> 
> To ALL:
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>    I am going to amend my initial request to “does anyone have any other 
> reasons to switch to eap-tls besides the ones I list below”? I am trying to 
> build a case for switching and want to gather all the benefits.

  One other benefit that I haven’t seen mentioned in the thread yet is that 
EAP-TLS removes dependency on Active Directory or other identity box.
  So an outage or slowdown of Active Directory (or other external box) does not 
affect RADIUS and wireless logins.


> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv 
> [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Bucklaew, Jerry
> Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2017 3:36 PM
> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] EAP-TLS
> 
>  
> 
> Lee,
> 
>  
> 
>    I want to state first that I am not, by any means, an expert on all of the 
> authentication standards and protocols.  I was hoping someone would have a 
> document that would help better articulate the goals and benefits.
> 
>  
> 
> We have been a eap-peap shop for years and I have always been told that 
> eap-tls (cert based authentication) is more secure and you should do that.  I 
> never had the time to deal with it and putting up a cert based infrastructure 
> just seemed daunting.   I finally have some time and have started to play 
> with it.  We are an Aruba shop and the clearpass Onboard system seems pretty 
> simple to implement and get EAP-TLS working.
> 
>  
> 
> Now to the why.   It seems that the ability to separate username/password 
> from network authentication has some benefits.   If a user changes his 
> username/password it no longer affects his network connectivity.  If we want 
> to blacklist a device it will be easy as each device will have its own cert. 
> So we can blacklist one device and let the rest still on.  We could do those 
> things today but it is just a little harder to do with eap-peap.   We can 
> also get users out of storing their usernames and passwords, because everyone 
> does it with eap-peap. The thought process went, if you are going to run an 
> on-board process anyway, why not onboard with eap-tls.  On the wireless side 
> that is really all I have.  I have always been told it is more secure so have 
> always thought I should try and get there.
> 
>  
> 
> Now, we are also moving to wired authentication on every port.   We are 
> supporting both mac auth and 802.1x (eap-peap).  We did this to get the 
> project moving and get all ports to some type of authentication.  Now 802.1x 
> on the wired side is just plain difficult.  Nothing except macs are setup for 
> it out of the box.   You need admin rights on the machine to set it up (which 
> many people on the wired side don’t have) and you almost have to run through 
> some type of onboard process to do it in mass.   You have to deal with stuff 
> like network logons and mounting drives before authentication. We also don’t 
> want the users storing usernames and password and everyone will because no 
> one wants to type it in every time.   I am back to the if you are going to 
> run through an onboard process anyway, will certs make it a little easier.   
> It gives you the username/password separation.   The ability to revoke per 
> device, and once onboarded, never have to be bothered again (until the cert 
> expires).
> 
>  
> 
> I am not really concerned about peap being deprecated, it will be around 
> forever.   I am not really concerned about usernames and passwords being 
> stolen because of eap-peap, there are so many easier ways to do that.  It 
> guess it is really the username/password separation and the “thought” that it 
> is the most secure method.
> 
>  
> 
> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv 
> [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Lee H Badman
> Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2017 3:00 PM
> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] EAP-TLS
> 
>  
> 
> Jerry,
> 
> Am curious your reasons for TLS, like if anything beyond "it's better". 
> Concern for PEAP being deprecated, etc?
> 
> Lee
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Bucklaew, Jerry [j...@buffalo.edu]
> Received: Thursday, 10 Aug 2017, 14:42
> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU [WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU]
> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] EAP-TLS
> 
> To ALL:
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>   We currently do mac auth and EAP-PEAP authentication on our wireless 
> network.  I am trying to put together a proposal to move to cert based 
> authentication and I was wondering if anyone has a proposal or justification 
> already written as to why you should move to cert based auth?  Just trying to 
> save myself some typing.
> 
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---
Bruce Curtis                         bruce.cur...@ndsu.edu
Certified NetAnalyst II                701-231-8527
North Dakota State University        


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