Identity & Access
Kerberos
Also known as: Kerberos protocol
Definition
A ticket-based network authentication protocol that uses symmetric cryptography and a trusted Key Distribution Center to enable secure single sign-on across services.
Examples
- An Active Directory user receiving a TGT from a Windows domain controller, then a service ticket to access a SharePoint server.
- Hadoop using Kerberos to authenticate NameNode and DataNode communication.
Related terms
Active Directory
Active Directory — definition coming soon.
NTLM Authentication
A legacy Windows challenge-response authentication protocol that proves a user's identity from a stored password hash, now considered weak by modern standards.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
An authentication scheme that lets a user sign in once at a trusted identity provider and then access many applications without re-entering credentials.
LDAP
LDAP — definition coming soon.
Authentication
The process of verifying that an entity — user, device or service — really is who or what it claims to be before granting access.
Service Account
A non-human identity used by an application, script, or service to authenticate to other systems, typically without interactive login.