Security
Security |
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Authentication, sometimes referred to as identification, allows initial access to an operating system (such as Windows). The first step in authentication is presenting credentials, followed by system validation of those credentials. Once these are validated, the user can access resources controlled by the system. Today, most authentication credentials take the form of user names and passwords. However, Windows 2000 Server also supports credentials such as certificates held on smart cards. For more details about smart card authentication, see “Authentication” in the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server Resource Kit Distributed Systems Guide.
Different authentication schemes provide differing degrees of security. For example, passwords are a fairly insecure means of identification because they are relatively easy to guess. Certificates, which are discussed later in this section, are very difficult to forge and thus provide a greater degree of security.