Authorization is a small portion of the access control equation, organizations the authentication steps to effectively manage access to sensitive data. Authentication is the process of validating the identity of authorized users trying to get access to an application, API, microservices and other data. Authorization is permitting an authenticated user the permission to perform a given action on specific resources.

Both authentication and authorization are required to deal with sensitive data assets. Without any of them, you are keeping data vulnerable to data breaches and unauthorized access. 

Authentication and authorization go hand-in-hand

Protected resources require additional security steps like authentication and authorization. Authentication is required for securely validating the subject identity and it is a crucial precursor to authorization.  

Authorization policies start after the authentication process completes. The authorization process determines what data you can access. 

 Authentication today

Every organization is trying to use the best authentication process to keep their data secure. There are so many authentication processes that can be used to validate user identity. Given below are some of them. 

Single Sign-On (SSO) allows users to get access to various applications through a single set of login credentials. SSO uses a federation when the user logs in into a spread across the different domains. 

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) uses different means of authentication. During log in with user name and password the user is asked to provide a one-time access code that the website sends to the user’s cell phone. It provides a higher level of assurance during the authentication step to improve security. 

Consumer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) provides various features like customer registration, self-services account management, consent and preference management, and other authentication features. 

Combining authentication and attribute-based access control

Authentication and ABAC can be used together as a powerful tool for data security. ABAC system utilizes the policies and rules to easily lead and enforce access based on the rich set of user data available through the security layers. 

An organization needs an extra layer of security for more sensitive information assets and transactions. ABAC redirects the employee, customer, and partner to use multifactor authentication before granting access. ABAC also decides what actions employees should take after they get the authenticated. Combining the authentication protocols with ABAC model organizations can share critical information.