Authentication

Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user or system. It answers the question, “Who are you?”.

Common Methods

• Username/Password: The most common method.
• OAuth / OpenID Connect: Delegated authentication, allowing users to log in with services like Google or Facebook.
• JSON Web Tokens (JWT): A compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Requires more than one method of authentication.

Authentication is often paired with Authorization, which determines what an authenticated user is allowed to do.

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