Does orig. Airport card support WPA/WPA2?

Can a Mac equipped with an original Airport card (802.11b) connect to a WPA- or WPA2-protected network via a third-party router? (Any router — my question doesn't concern a particular router, but is more general in nature.) If so, are there minimum OS or other software version requirements for WPA/WPA2 support with the old card? Is there an Apple article that specifies the relevant requirements and procedures? My repeated searches for one have been fruitless, and this question comes up regularly in some forums I monitor daily where I'd like to be able to answer it confidently.