Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) Practice Exam 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Certification!

EAP-TLS, which stands for Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer Security, is known for its strong authentication method that utilizes certificates. This authentication framework requires both server-side and client-side certificates to ensure secure communications between the client and the server.

The server-side certificate verifies the identity of the server to the client, establishing trust in the server’s authenticity. Simultaneously, the client-side certificate is used to authenticate the client to the server, ensuring that only legitimate users can connect to the network. This mutual authentication process is one of the key strengths of EAP-TLS, as it protects against various interception attacks and unauthorized access.

Since both types of certificates are critically involved in establishing a secure identity verification process, the requirement for both is essential in keeping the communication secure and trusted. Without one of the two, the strong security posture provided by EAP-TLS would be compromised.