An EAP based Privacy Preserving Authentication and key agreement protocol for WLAN-IOT devices | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An EAP based Privacy Preserving Authentication and key agreement protocol for WLAN-IOT devices Vijay Kumar, Aditya Kaushal Ranjan, Prabhat Kumar This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7025423/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications → Version 1 posted 25 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The development of a secure authentication protocol to protect Internet of Things (IoT) devices as they become increasingly integrated into Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) presents a significant challenge in terms of addressing new cyber threats and ensuring dependable connectivity. There are numerous symmetric and asymmetric encryption protocols that were developed, but they are vulnerable to various attacks. In a WLAN environment, we introduce an authentication protocol for the Internet of Things (IoT) that is based on the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) framework and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). This method is designed for mutual authentication with key agreement. An exhaustive security analysis, both formal and informal, illustrates the protocol's resilience against both known and emerging threats. The performance evaluation shows that the proposed solution is excellent for IoT applications because it provides better security while using less computing power and communication resources compared to the best existing protocols. Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Privacy Authentication Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 19 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 26 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 24 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 14 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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