Example: Funds
Entering your bank card and pin into a bank machine is an example of authentication. The bank confirms that you are the owner of the card by validating the pin. If you attempt to transfer $1 million into a foreign account from the bank machine, the bank will check if your account is authorized to do that from an ATM machine. The bank may reject that transaction based on authorization rules even though you are properly authenticated.Example: Locations
An office requires employees to scan their id and enter their password at the entrance. The act of verifying the employees id and password is authentication. The act of verifying that the employee has the right to access a particular floor of a particular building is authorization.Example: Information
A document repository asks for a user name and password. The process of verifying the user name and password is authentication. The process of verifying that a user has rights to view a particular document is authorization.| Authentication vs Authorization | ||
Authentication | Authorization | |
Definition | Verifying the identity of an entity. | Verifying that an authenticated entity has the right to access a particular resource. |
