Encrypting data in a pre-associated state

A method of a wireless device, comprising:

• receiving, at the wireless device from an access point (AP), a beacon including a first flag indicating support by the AP for a protected wireless local area network (WLAN) capability for protecting messages communicated with the wireless device that is in a pre-associated state during which the wireless device is unauthenticated and is not associated with a network so that content of the messages communicated with the wireless device is rendered unreadable by an unauthorized entity;
• after the receiving of the beacon, sending, from the wireless device to the AP, a message including a second flag and a request for information from the AP while the wireless device is in the pre-associated state, the second flag indicating support by the wireless device for the protected WLAN capability for protecting messages communicated with the AP while the wireless device is in the pre-associated state so that content of the messages communicated with the AP is rendered unreadable by the unauthorized entity;
• obtaining, at the wireless device, a public key of the AP;
• receiving, at the wireless device from the AP, an encrypted response to the request and an encrypted symmetric key;
• decrypting, at the wireless device, the encrypted symmetric key using the public key of the AP to recover a symmetric key that is not encrypted;
• and
• decrypting the encrypted response to the request using the symmetric key to recover a response to the request that is not encrypted.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing machine-readable instructions that upon execution cause a wireless device to:

• receive, from an access point (AP), a beacon including a first flag indicating support by the AP for a protected wireless local area network (WLAN) capability for protecting messages communicated with the wireless device that is in a pre-associated state during which the wireless device is unauthenticated and is not associated with a network so that content of the messages communicated with the wireless device is rendered unreadable by an unauthorized entity;
• after the receiving of the beacon, send to the AP a message including a second flag and a request for information from the AP while the wireless device is in the pre-associated state, the second flag indicating support by the wireless device for the protected WLAN capability for protecting messages communicated with the AP while the wireless device is in the pre-associated state so that content of the messages communicated with the AP is rendered unreadable by the unauthorized entity;
• obtain a public key of the AP;
• receive an encrypted response to the request and an encrypted symmetric key;
• decrypt the encrypted symmetric key using the public key of the AP to recover a symmetric key that is not encrypted;
• and
• decrypt the encrypted response to the request using the decrypted symmetric key to recover a response to the request that is not encrypted.