Path Authentication for Multiple Switches within First Communication Packets

This paper introduces a new approach to switch authentication within a network environment, addressing the challenges associated with multiple switch configurations. The proposed continuous authentication process is seamlessly integrated into the TCP handshake, leveraging public-private key encryption and challenge-based authentication methodologies. This novel solution aims to improve performance of traditional one-to-one authentication methods, both in terms of efficiency and security. The research demonstrates the efficiency gains achieved by the proposed authentication process through a comparative analysis with one-to-one solution based on the same authentication mechanism. The results reveal a significant reduction in authentication time, thanks to link latency reduction. The incorporation of public-private key encryption enhances the security, ensuring protection against unauthorized access and switch spoofing attempts.