What Is the Relationship Between Authorization and Authentication?
Authorization and authentication are individual concepts with distinct effects on the security of organizations. However, both are necessary when gaining access to a system.
Understanding the difference betweenauthorization and authentication can help you understand their relationship. It can also help you understand why both are necessary.
Authentication
Authentication asserts and proves the identity of a person.
Most applications have a login page that allows you to enter a userID or email address and a password. The user ID or email is used as an identifier, it allows you to assert who you are, your identity.
But asserting your identity is not enough, you must prove that you are who you are. This is why passwords are used; theoretically, you are the only one who knows your password so once you enter the right password, that proves your identity.
How Do You Perform Authentication?
You can use a username, password, email, or phone number. However, hackers often target passwords, and this makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks.
To secure against this, use multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA requires multiple credentials to verify a user’s identity.
Rather than just a username and password, the user needs to offer additional credentials like answering a security question. Others include facial recognition, smartphone app generated conde, fingerprints, code sent to an email, certificates, physical devices like badges, etc.
Authorization
Once authenticated, authorization determines what you can do within the app or network.
What data or information do you have access to? Are you a normal user, or do you have administrator rights?
Authorization gives necessary privileges so that an authenticated user can access resources such as funds, information, locations, databases, files, etc.
How Do You Perform Authorization?
There are different approaches you can use, each depending on your needs.
For example:
Role-Bases Access Control (RBAC): Restricts access based on a user’s role, where role refers to levels of access an employee has to a network. Employees only access information that they need to perform duties. Access can depend on factors such as responsibility, authority, job competency, and tasks.
Token-Based: You give users tokens that indicate privileges granted and data they can access. In this case, the identity provider issues tokens based on an initial authorization request. The tokens then act as a secure placement for passwords and logging.
Access Control Lists (ACL): They contain rules that deny or grant access to certain digital environments. Filesystem ACLs, for example, tell the system what users can access what system and privileges allowed. Networking ACLs tell switches and routers what kind of traffic can access the network and activities allowed.
How Is Authorization Related to Authentication?
A good example would be in an office building. Verifying and confirming employee ID is authentication. Once inside, authorization determines what floor and what doors they can access.
You protect your system using both authentication and authorization. Authentication comes first, and then authorization determines what a user can do once in the system.
Incorporate both on websites and applications that deal with personal information or online transactions. A strong authentication and authorization system can keep unauthorized users from accessing your data or information.