Authentication Fundamentals | Authentication Series
Summary
TLDRThis video introduces a new series on authentication strategies, covering key concepts such as the process of authentication, its types, and examples. The video explains various authentication factors—knowledge (passwords), possession (tokens), and inherent qualities (biometrics). It differentiates between multi-factor and two-factor authentication, emphasizing security. Additionally, it highlights the distinction between authentication (verifying identity) and authorization (checking user permissions). The video sets the stage for future discussions on different authentication strategies, promising in-depth exploration of their implementation, pros, and cons.
Takeaways
- 😀 Data structures series focused on common data structures, their use cases, pros and cons, and operational complexity.
- 🔐 Authentication is the process of verifying someone's identity, similar to how an airline checks your passport to confirm your identity.
- 🌐 In computer systems, authentication can involve checking username/password, TLS for websites, or server-to-server communications.
- 🔑 Several authentication factors exist: username/password, security codes (PIN), hard tokens (hardware devices), soft tokens (e.g., OTP via mobile), and biometric verification (e.g., facial recognition).
- 📖 Authentication factors can be categorized into three types: knowledge factor (something you know), possession factor (something you have), and qualities factor (something you are).
- 🔒 Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires more than one factor from different categories (e.g., username and password, plus OTP) to increase security.
- 👥 Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a specific type of MFA that involves exactly two authentication factors.
- 🚫 Authentication and authorization are different: authentication verifies identity, while authorization checks if the authenticated user has permission to perform certain actions.
- ❌ In case of authentication failure, HTTP response code 401 is used; for authorization failure, HTTP response code 403 is returned.
- 📽 The future videos in the series will cover different authentication strategies in detail, including their pros, cons, and implementation.
Q & A
What were the topics covered in the previous video series?
-The previous video series covered data structures, their use cases, pros and cons, and the complexity of operations performed on them.
What is authentication in the context of computing?
-Authentication is the process of verifying someone's identity, typically by checking credentials such as a username and password.
Can you give a real-world example of authentication?
-A real-world example of authentication is when an airline worker checks your passport at the airport to verify your identity before allowing you to board a plane.
What are some examples of authentication methods used in computing?
-In computing, authentication methods include username and password, security codes (PIN), hard tokens, soft tokens (like OTP sent to a mobile device), and biometric verification.
How does multi-factor authentication (MFA) work?
-Multi-factor authentication requires using more than one authentication factor, such as a password (knowledge factor) and an OTP (possession factor), making it more secure than single-factor authentication.
What is the difference between two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA)?
-Two-factor authentication involves exactly two factors, while multi-factor authentication can involve two or more factors.
What is the distinction between authentication and authorization?
-Authentication is verifying a user's identity, while authorization checks if an authenticated user has permission to perform certain actions.
What HTTP response codes are associated with authentication and authorization failures?
-Authentication failures return a 401 Unauthorized HTTP response code, while authorization failures return a 403 Forbidden response code.
What are the different categories of authentication factors?
-The categories of authentication factors are: knowledge factors (e.g., password), possession factors (e.g., hard or soft tokens), and qualities factors (e.g., biometrics like fingerprint or facial recognition).
Why is it important to use different types of factors in multi-factor authentication?
-Using different types of factors in multi-factor authentication ensures higher security. For example, using both a password (knowledge) and OTP (possession) is more secure than using two knowledge factors like a password and a security question.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Authentication Strategies
In this video, we are transitioning from discussing data structures to exploring authentication strategies. The introduction defines authentication as the process of verifying someone's identity, providing a real-world example of boarding a plane where an airline worker checks a passenger’s passport. Similarly, in computing, when you log into a website, your identity is verified using a username and password. However, it’s important to note that authentication is not limited to just persons and passwords. For instance, HTTPS protocols use TLS to authenticate servers, and server-to-server communications may also require authentication to prevent malicious use.
🔑 Overview of Authentication Methods
This section breaks down the different methods of authentication. First, the standard username and password system is introduced, followed by security codes (e.g., PINs). Next are hard tokens, physical devices used for authentication, and soft tokens, which involve verifying possession of a device like receiving an OTP on your phone. Biometric verification such as iris, facial recognition, and voice recognition is also covered. These methods are categorized into three factors: knowledge (e.g., passwords), possession (e.g., tokens), and qualities (e.g., biometrics).
🔐 Understanding Multi-factor and Two-factor Authentication
This paragraph introduces multi-factor and two-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication involves using more than one authentication factor (e.g., a password and an OTP from your phone), making it more secure than single-factor authentication. However, for multi-factor authentication to be valid, the factors must be different (e.g., a password and a security code both fall under the same 'knowledge' category, so they don’t count as multi-factor). Two-factor authentication is a subset of multi-factor authentication, but it specifically uses exactly two factors for verification.
🆔 Authentication vs. Authorization
Authentication and authorization are often confused, but they serve different purposes. Authentication is the process of verifying identity, such as logging in with credentials. If authentication fails, an HTTP 401 'Unauthorized' error is returned. Authorization, on the other hand, checks whether the authenticated user has permission to perform a specific action. A failure in authorization results in an HTTP 403 'Forbidden' error. This distinction is important, especially for beginners.
📜 List of Authentication Strategies to Explore
The video concludes by listing common authentication strategies that will be discussed in future videos. Each strategy will be examined in detail, covering how they work, their pros and cons, and implementation methods. Viewers are encouraged to stay tuned for upcoming content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Authentication
💡Username and Password
💡Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
💡Biometric Verification
💡Two-factor Authentication (2FA)
💡Possession Factor
💡Knowledge Factor
💡Soft Token
💡Authorization
💡Hard Token
Highlights
Introduction to a video series about authentication strategies, following a prior series on data structures.
Definition of authentication: the process of verifying someone's identity, using both real-world and computer-based examples.
Authentication is not limited to username and password; other methods include server-to-server communication and HTTPS for website security.
Overview of authentication factors: knowledge (username/password), possession (hard/soft tokens), and biometric (face/voice recognition).
Explanation of multi-factor authentication: involves more than one factor, such as combining knowledge (password) with possession (OTP).
Clarification of two-factor authentication: similar to multi-factor authentication but strictly uses two factors.
Distinction between authentication and authorization: authentication verifies identity, while authorization checks permissions after identity is verified.
HTTP status codes for authentication and authorization failures: 401 Unauthorized for failed authentication, and 403 Forbidden for failed authorization.
Multi-factor authentication is more secure than single-factor authentication due to the use of diverse authentication methods.
Importance of using different types of authentication factors in multi-factor authentication to ensure security.
Examples of possession-based authentication: hard tokens (physical devices) and soft tokens (mobile OTPs).
Biometric authentication: uses inherent qualities like iris or facial recognition to verify identity.
Hard tokens: physical devices used for authentication, unlike soft tokens, which rely on a personal device like a mobile phone.
Upcoming videos in the series will cover various authentication strategies, their implementation, pros, and cons.
End of the video encourages viewers to stay tuned for the next installment, which will delve deeper into authentication strategies.
Transcripts
our last video series was about the data
structures we looked at the most common
data structures their use cases the pros
and cons of each and the different
operations and the complexity of those
operations on those data structures in
this video today we will be kicking off
a similar series for the authentication
strategies we'll be discussing
everything you need to know about the
authentication and the different
authentication strategies alright so
what is Authentication authentication is
the process of verifying someone's
identity a real word example for that
would be when you board a plane the
airline worker checks your passport to
verify your identity so that is the
airport worker authenticating you to
either allow or reject you from boarding
into the plane if we talk about the
computers when you log into any website
you normally put your username and
password which is then checked by the
website to ensure that you are who you
claim to be there are two things you
should keep in mind authentication is
not only for the persons and username
and password is not the only way to
authenticate some other examples are
when you open a website in the browser
if the website uses https then TLS is
used to authenticate the server and to
avoid loading a fake website into the
user's device also there might be a
server to server communication on any
website in which case the server may
need to authenticate the incoming
request to avoid the malicious usage
alright so how does the authentication
work on a high level we have these
factors which are used for
authentication so first of all we have
the normal username and password then we
have the security codes or the PIN codes
one example for that would be the PIN
code that you enter into the ATM to
withdraw cash next we have the hard
tokens which are the special
authentication Hardware devices which
are attached to authenticate the user
then we have the soft tokens in soft
tokens unlike the hard token we don't
have any special authentication device
we just verify the possession of some
device which was used to set up the
authentication for example you may
receive an OTP on your mobile phone to
be able to authenticate yourself and
finally we have the biometric
verification in which we use the
biometric data to verify the user for
example we might use Iris facial
recognition or the voice recognition and
so on now if we look at these different
authentication factors we can categorize
them into three different types so the
username and password and the security
codes they are relevant to something
that the person knows so we can say that
this is a knowledge factor in hard and
soft tokens we authenticate the user by
verifying the possession of a hardware
device so this would be a possession
factor and in the Biometrics we test the
inherent qualities of the person hideous
face or voice so this would be a
qualities Factor
all right so this brings us to the next
topic multi-factor authentication and
two-factor authentication so first of
all we have multi-factor authentication
multi-factor authentication as the type
of authentication in which we rely on
more than one factors to authenticate a
user so for example if we pick up a
username and password from the knowledge
Factor and soft tokens from The
Possession factor and we say that for a
user to authenticate they must enter
their username and password first and
they should also put the OTP with the
receive on their mobile phone so this
would be an example of a multi-factor
authentication and because we are
relying on more than one factor to
authenticate a user so we can say that
multi-factor authentication is much more
secure than single Factor authentication
one important thing to note here is that
the factors you pick for authentication
they have to be different so for example
if we pick up a username and password
and security question or the security
codes it is still not true multi-factor
authentication because we are still
relying on the knowledge Factor the
factors have to be different for it to
be considered as a true multi-factor
Authentication
all right so next we have two Factor
authentication two-factor authentication
is similar to multi-factor
authentication the only difference is
that there are exactly two factors in
two-factor authentication in
multi-factor authentication we can have
two three four or any number of
authentication factors
so next we have the difference between
authentication and authorization this
comes up a lot in the interviews and the
beginners often confuse between them so
first of all we have authentication
authentication is the process of
verifying the identity so for example if
you are at a login screen and you enter
your credentials the application is
going to identify you through your
credentials so this is authentication
the process of verifying the identity in
case of the authentication failure for
example if you put the wrong username or
password the response code from HTTP is
going to be unauthorized 401
authorization is the process of checking
the permission of the authenticated user
so for example if you logged into a
website already and now you're trying to
perform some action the application is
going to check if you are allowed to
perform this operation or not so this is
what the authorization is performing a
check to see authenticated user can
perform a specific action or not
in case of the authorization failure the
response code from HTTP is 403 Forbidden
alright so here is the list of common
authentication strategies in the future
videos we'll be going through each of
these strategies and we'll be discussing
what they are how they are implemented
and the pros and cons and so on
so stay tuned and I will see you in the
next one
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