Centralized Authentication System for Location Privacy Protection and Low Operational Cost of Large Scale WLAN Roaming

Abstract

Recent proliferation of Wireless LAN devices has created a high demand for roaming systems that enable network connections at visited institntions using users' home accounts. We have been operating eduroam, the roaming system for international research and edncational institutions. However, if the roaming system is to be introduced into more than a thousand of research and educational institutions in Japan, some operational and management difficulties arise at each institution as well as at the eduroam national operational body. Tn this paper, we propose a centralized delegate authentication system using pseudonymous ID for reducing operational cost and for protecting user's location privacy. A prototype system using Shibboleth is also presented.

Concerns regarding service authorization by IP address using eduroam

“…Most mobile users would like to get connectivity everywhere, including at home and at educational institutions. The TERENA (Trans European Research and Education Network Association) proposed a service for WLAN roaming between educational institutions and research networks [2]. This WLAN roaming service is called eduroam (EDUcation ROAMing).…”