EnGenius EWS5912FP, User Manual

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In SNMPv3, User-based Security Model (USM) authenti-
cation is implemented along with encryption, allowing
you to configure a secure SNMP environment. The SN -
MPv3 protocol uses different terminology than SNMPv1
and SNMPv2c as well. In the SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c
protocols, the terms agent and manager are used. In the
SNMPv3 protocol, agents and managers are renamed to
entities. With the SNMPv3 protocol, you create users and
determine the protocol used for message authentication
as well as if data transmitted between two SNMP enti-
ties is encrypted.
The SNMPv3 protocol supports two authentication pro-
tocols - HMAC-MD5-96 (MD5) and HMAC-SHA-96 (SHA).
Both MD5 and SHA use an algorithm to generate a mes-
sage digest. Each authentication protocol authenticates
a user by checking the message digest. In addition, both
protocols use keys to perform authentication. The keys
for both protocols are generated locally using the Engine
ID and the user password to provide even more security.
In SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c, user authentication is ac-
complished using types of passwords called Communi-
ty Strings, which are transmitted in clear text and not
supported by authentication. Users can assign views to
Community Strings that specify which MIB objects can be
accessed by a remote SNMP manager.
The default Community Strings for the Switch used
for SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c management access for the
Switch are public, which allows authorized management
stations to retrieve MIB objects, and private, which allow
authorized management stations to retrieve and modify
MIB objects.