❗Stop Conflating "Authentication" and "Authorization"
🔍 "Authentication" and "Authorization" are both crucial security concepts but serve different purposes. Distinguishing between them is essential for maintaining robust security protocols. Let's clarify:
🔑 Authentication:
📝 Definition: Authentication verifies the identity of a user, system, or application. It's about proving you are who you say you are.
🚦 Process: Typically involves username/password combinations, biometrics, or multi-factor authentication methods.
🚀 Usage: When you log into an application or a website, you're going through the authentication process.
🎯 Objective: To ensure that the user, system, or application is genuine and not an imposter.
🛂 Authorization:
📝 Definition: Authorization determines the permissions and access levels of both authenticated and unauthenticated users. It's about granting or denying access based on roles, identities, or even the lack of identity (like guests).
🚦 Process: Systems check what actions or resources users, whether authenticated or guests, are permitted to access.
🚀 Usage: Once a user, whether logged in or a guest, tries to access a system or its features, what they can or cannot do is determined by the authorization process.
🎯 Objective: To ensure that users, whether authenticated or not, only have access to resources or actions they're permitted to use.
🌐 At the end of the day, Authentication is about validating identity ("Are you who you claim to be?"), while Authorization is about permissions ("What are you allowed to do?").
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