Prototyping a Serial Number Based Authentication Model for a Computer in a Wireless Local Area Network
John C. Chebor, Simon M. Karume, Nelson B. Masese, Andrew Kipkebut

TL;DR
This paper presents a prototype authentication model using a computer's serial number for wireless LANs, aiming to improve security over traditional MAC address methods.
Contribution
The study introduces SNAP, a novel serial number-based authentication prototype, demonstrating its feasibility and potential as a secure alternative for device authentication in wireless networks.
Findings
SNAP can effectively allow or deny network access based on serial numbers.
The prototype was successfully developed and tested using Java and MySQL.
Serial number authentication offers a more secure alternative to MAC address spoofing.
Abstract
With the increase of wireless LAN usage in homes and enterprises due to its numerous benefits, authenticating the ever increasing number of devices and their users has become a challenge to proprietors of such kind networks. A MAC address, a physical network address that is used as basis for this study, has a copy of its value in the system software that can be spoofed and altered rendering the address not unique, not secure and unreliable. On the contrary, a computers serial number is hard-coded in the system hardware only and therefore cannot be spoofed and altered making it unique, secure and reliable. The research, therefore, was aimed at designing a model that demonstrates how a computers serial number can be used for authenticating a computer in a wireless local area network. In order to achieve the research objective, the study examined the inbuilt access and use of a computers…
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