2025 is the year InkBridge Networks launched the world's first RADIUS conference and championed critical standards work, reinforcing our position as the authentication experts the industry turns to when networks matter most.
From launching the world's first RADIUS conference to earning recognition on the global stage, 2025 reinforced our position as the authentication experts the industry turns to when networks matter most.
From BlastRADIUS to industry leadership
2024 was dominated by our response to the BlastRADIUS vulnerability, where we provided the definitive fix that protected countless networks worldwide.
In 2025, we built on that momentum. We transformed crisis response into lasting industry leadership, demonstrating that secure, reliable network authentication is both our business and our mission.
The RADIUS Conference: Making history
March 2025 marked a watershed moment for our industry: the inaugural RADIUS Conference. As co-organizers with Radiator Software, we brought together RADIUS experts from around the globe for the first conference dedicated entirely to the protocol securing hundreds of millions of daily users worldwide.
The virtual event featured a full roster of industry leaders:
- Alan DeKok, CEO of InkBridge Networks and Founder of FreeRADIUS
- Karri Huhtanen, Managing Director of Radiator Software
- Klaas Wierenga, GÉANT CIO and Founder of eduroam
- Bruno Tomas, CTO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance
- Howie Koh, VP of Innovation at Forescout Technologies
- Blair Bullock, AAA Systems Architect at Boldyn Networks
- Ryan Blossom, System Engineer at Single Digits, Inc.
- Mark Donnelly, Senior Software Engineer at Painless Security
- Brenda Namuli, Systems and Software Engineer at the Research and Education Network for Uganda
- Ulf Schuberth, CEO and Founder of Mideye AB
Making history: speakers at the first-ever RADIUS Conference, March 2025, where authentication experts gathered to tackle the industry's biggest challenges together
The conference addressed critical topics across ISP, enterprise, educational, and general RADIUS themes, from implementing RadSec and zero-trust architectures to scaling authentication for tens of thousands of users. The in-person workshop in Tampere, Finland, brought experienced RADIUS implementors together to tackle outstanding technical challenges, creating solutions that will benefit the entire industry.
We created this conference because the next wave of network security challenges won't be solved in isolation. The RADIUS Conference gave architects of tomorrow's authentication standards a forum to ensure we're strengthening that foundation instead of just patching holes.
Industry awards and recognition
InkBridge Networks was shortlisted for the 2025 Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) Best Wi-Fi Network Technology Award. This recognition placed us alongside Cisco and Airvine as industry leaders transforming global Wi-Fi infrastructure.
Our submission showcased our three-tiered approach to Wi-Fi security: advancing RADIUS protocol standards through the IETF, maintaining FreeRADIUS as the world's most widely deployed authentication server, and developing comprehensive commercial solutions that build on these foundations.
While we didn't take home the trophy this time, being recognized alongside industry giants validates the impact we're making across protocol innovation, open-source leadership, and enterprise authentication solutions.
In conjunction with our agency partners, InkBridge Networks also earned three dotCOMM Awards recognising impact across the authentication industry:
- Platinum Award: "The BlastRADIUS Vulnerability: Global Crisis to Brand Authority in 4 Months" (Team Achievement, Specific Project)
- Gold Award: Inaugural RADIUS Conference (Virtual Events, Conference)
- Gold Award: "Ransomware Prevention Starts with Network Authentication" (Single Blog Post)
These recognitions reflect work that mattered: our rapid, comprehensive response to protect networks worldwide; the first global gathering of authentication experts; and thought leadership that helps organisations strengthen their security posture.
Global engagement: IETF and beyond
Our team continued shaping internet standards through active participation in the Internet Engineering Task Force.
At IETF 122 in Bangkok (March 2025), meetings with the RADEXT working group resulted in important technical consensus and we scoped out several new standards documents on proxies.
IETF 123 in Madrid gave us an opportunity to present documents on proxy best practices and protocol error standardisation. Alan also gave a talk on two TEAP enhancements.
At IETF 124 in Montreal (November 2025), our team championed a hackathon with Jan-Frederik Rieckers, implementing the Protocol-Error draft specification. This hands-on collaboration ("rough consensus and running code" in IETF parlance) ensures that standards work correctly when deployed.
We also attended the Wireless Global Congress in both Dallas, and Paris, as well as the Wi-Fi Alliance Europe Member Meeting in Amsterdam (October 2025).
CANARIE eduroam webinar
In September 2025, we partnered with CANARIE to host an Ask Me Anything webinar about eduroam, the global Wi-Fi authentication service for academic institutions. Alan DeKok and Jonathan Eagan from CANARIE addressed questions from universities and research institutions about implementing secure, seamless network access across campus and around the world.
Topics ranged from technical implementations with Azure Active Directory to addressing evil twin attacks and understanding RadSec support. The session demonstrated our commitment to ensuring that organisations can deploy authentication systems successfully.
We also hosted a webinar on RADIUS design for ISPs in November 2025 that addressed the issues of scaling to millions of subscribers.
Top blog articles of 2025
Your engagement tells us what matters most to network professionals. These articles received the most visits in 2025:
- How to set up a wireless RADIUS server for secure Wi-Fi authentication - Eliminate the security vulnerabilities that come with password sharing
- Separating Authentication from your RADIUS Accounting server – Performance optimization for growing networks
- Three reasons to protect your network against BlastRADIUS – Why ignoring vulnerabilities weakens your security posture
- RADIUS insecurity – Deep dive into authentication protocol security considerations
- RADIUS design for ISPs – Architectural guidance for service providers
- How authentication protocols work – Foundation knowledge for choosing the right approach
- Network design for multi-site RADIUS systems – Scaling authentication across distributed infrastructure
- Why you should separate historical data from live data – Database optimization for compliance and performance
- RADIUS protocol and password compatibility – Understanding which passwords work with which methods
- Making RADIUS more secure – Practical steps to harden your authentication infrastructure
These articles represent thousands of hours of real-world experience distilled into actionable guidance. They're the knowledge we share because secure networks benefit everyone.
Trusted partners: Client renewals and new relationships
Our client relationships often span years, even decades. In 2025, organizations across continents renewed their trust in InkBridge Networks:
New clients
DOKOM21 – This German internet service provider serving subscribers across Dortmund and North Rhine-Westphalia engaged us for a comprehensive review of their FreeRADIUS implementation and strategic upgrade planning.
University of Alberta – As a member of the global eduroam network, the University of Alberta provides secure network access for 46,000 students and 11,800 employees across five campuses. We're conducting configuration reviews to optimize their authentication infrastructure.
Long-term client renewals
Virginia Tech – Celebrating 12 years of partnership (since 2013), Virginia Tech continues trusting our solutions to support 38,000 students and 4,600 faculty and staff across their 12 campuses.
MTA (Matanuska Telephone Association) – Since 2019, we've supported this innovative Alaskan telecom co-op serving 35,000 internet subscribers across America's largest state, from urban centres to remote communities.
euNetworks – Based in the UK, euNetworks operates fibre infrastructure spanning 17 countries with 18 dense metropolitan networks across major European cities, 559+ connected data centres, and an intercity backbone covering 53 cities.
Claro Ecuador – Seven years of supporting authentication for Ecuador's largest mobile provider serving 9 million mobile users.
Purtel – Germany's market leader for IP white label services, powering more than 100 network operators across the country.
When organizations renew for over a decade, it's because the authentication simply works.
Media and thought leadership
Our expertise reached technical audiences through Data Science Central, the Financial Post coverage of the RADIUS Conference, the Software Leaders Uncensored podcast, and specialist publications like hanz.nl.
"It's certainly fun being on customer calls with a national ISP and a big equipment vendor, and someone's saying, 'Your crappy open-source product doesn't work with our beautiful billion-dollar equipment.' I'm able to say, 'Could you pull up the standard we're
implementing? Whose name is at the top?' If I say your product is
wrong, I'm pretty sure your product is wrong." — Alan DeKok, Software
Leaders Uncensored podcast
Looking forward
As we enter 2026, network authentication faces new challenges: zero-trust architectures becoming standard, the continued evolution of wireless standards, and increasing regulatory requirements around security and privacy. These are opportunities to do what we do best.
The organizations that depend on InkBridge Networks share a common requirement: their networks simply must work. Whether serving millions of ISP subscribers, securing enterprise operations, or enabling academic research, network authentication failure isn't an option.
That's why we exist. That's what we built FreeRADIUS to solve 25 years ago. And that's what we'll continue delivering: authentication systems that work so reliably, you can ignore them and focus on your business.
Thank you for trusting us with your critical infrastructure. Here's to another year of networks that simply work.
Need help?
InkBridge Networks has been at the forefront of network infrastructure for over two decades, tackling complex challenges across various protocols. Our team of seasoned experts has encountered and solved nearly every conceivable network access issue. If you're looking for insights from the architects behind some of the internet's most foundational authentication systems, you can request a quote here.
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