The invention relates to an authentication protocol for increasing safety
against a man-in-the-middle (MITM) access attack for point-to-point
communication (10), between client computer (12) and server (14), to
services. The server (14) responds with an N byte nonce value and the
client computer (12) utilizes a hash algorithm to compute a hash value of
the parameters clients' password, client computer unique IP address,
server IP address, and the nonce value. The hash value is transmitted
through the client computer (12) as an authenticator for accessing the
services, whereby the server (14) reproduces the authenticator by
utilizing the same hash algorithm and parameters. A compare between the
reproduction and the transmitted authenticator is accomplished. If they
match, the grant of an access to the server (14) and services is
authorized. By utilizing the client computer (12) unique IP address in
the authenticator it prevents a MITM computer (16), having a different IP
address, from addressing the server with a matching authenticator. The
present invention also comprises an authenticator signal and a medium for
carrying the signal.