A method of authenticating a network link of a first device to a second device is described. The method includes communicating a challenge request including a challenge value from the first device to the second device, wherein challenge value is unique to the challenge request. The method further includes receiving a challenge response from the second device, in which the challenge response includes encrypted data pertaining to the first device, and authenticating the network link based on the first device decrypting the encrypted data included in the challenge response from the second device.