Here in this blog, we regularly use terms such as authentication, authentication or authorization. These terms are all related, but have certain differences. These differences can also be relevant for companies. We explain them to you in this article.
What is authentication?
Authentication is proof of identity. This proof is verified by a system or a person as part of the authentication process. A classic example of authentication is the ID card, which is mandatory for every resident in order to be able to authenticate themselves at any time. In the digital world, the user name in combination with a password is often used for authentication. However, this is an extremely insecure method. Although the system checks that the combination of name and password is correct, basically anyone can enter this data and thus gain access to an account. Secure authentication should be carried out using more complex procedures. One example of this is encrypted connections. Simple passwords are too easy to crack and open up many opportunities for fraudsters to gain access to your account.
What is authentication?
During authentication, the proof of identity provided during authentication is checked for authenticity. To stay with our example of the ID card: Authentication is a verification of the authenticity of the ID document and a comparison with the person. In other words, it basically checks whether the person and ID card actually belong together and whether this can be officially confirmed. In IT, authentication is, for example, checking in the system whether the combination of user name and password exists. You can only authenticate yourself if both match exactly. Two-factor authentication should always be used for authentication. This cannot be circumvented by hackers even if they have the authentication information. Reiner SCT’s Authenticator, for example, generates a new one-time password every 30 seconds to log into accounts. These one-time passwords expire quickly and are therefore unusable after a very short time. Hackers would not be able to use them even if they found out the passwords.
What is authorization?
Authorization is the granted permission for access or entry, which is created through successful authentication and authentication. In the example with the ID card, this is access to a company or establishment. Authorization can be granted in full or with restrictions. In a company, for example, visitors can be granted access to the meeting room. However, authorization for the production halls, for example, remains prohibited and is only granted if certain employees can be authorized. In the digital domain, authorization is also granted for specific areas. For example, an account on a website allows comments or articles to be written. However, it is not possible to make changes to the page itself. In the case of programs used by companies, for example, the restrictions apply to access to certain areas and tasks. Additional administrator rights must be granted for this. Authorization can be used to control which person has which privileges in a system or workspace. It is best to grant these privileges exactly as they are required. It can also be useful to work with different accounts. For example, with an account that has all rights and an account that is used exclusively for processing orders. This means that the administrator account can only be used when it is necessary and offers fewer opportunities for attacks. If an account with fewer rights is hacked, the damage is less or it is at least more difficult to infiltrate malware into all systems.
Conclusion
The main differences between authentication, authentication and authorization are that they basically build on each other and are therefore interdependent. What they have in common is that all three serve to control identity and grant access. This applies both in the “real” world and in digital applications.
