An authentication server provides a
network service
In computer networking, a network service is an application running at the network application layer and above, that provides data storage, manipulation, presentation, communication or other capability which is often implemented using a client� ...
that applications use to
authenticate the credentials,
usually account names and passwords, of their users. When a client submits a valid set of credentials, it receives a
cryptographic
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...
ticket that it can subsequently use to access various services.
Authentication is used as the basis for
authorization, which is the determination whether a
privilege
Privilege may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Privilege'' (film), a 1967 film directed by Peter Watkins
* ''Privilege'' (Ivor Cutler album), 1983
* ''Privilege'' (Television Personalities album), 1990
* ''Privilege (Abridged)'', an alb ...
may be granted to a particular user or
process,
privacy
Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.
The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
, which keeps information from becoming known to non-participants, and
non-repudiation, which is the inability to deny having done something that was
authorized to be done based on the
authentication.
Major authentication
algorithms include
passwords,
Kerberos, and
public key encryption
Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic al ...
.
See also
*
TACACS+
*
RADIUS
*
Multi-factor authentication
*
Universal 2nd Factor
References
Computer network security
Servers (computing)
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