A method for operating a station when discovering a service includes generating a first identifier of the service, generating a second identifier of the service in accordance with a first parameter, and transmitting a request instructing a generating of a third identifier, the request including the first identifier of the service and the first parameter. The method includes receiving a first response including the third identifier, determining that the first response is not valid when the second and third identifiers are not equal, and determining that the first response is valid when the second and third identifiers are equal.