- Authentication (AuthN) is who you are
- I know
- I have (device)
- I am
- Entra MFA
- Authorization (AuthZ) is what you can do
AuthZ is always against “Entra ID”.
Ways for authentication
There are different ways for authentication, as listed below. After authentication is done then in all cases “Entra ID” creates a token.
Password hash synchronization (cloud)
- Best option/always recommended even if using others as primary (see pt. 4)
- AD has password hash.
- Hash of this password hash is synced to “Entra ID” which is then used for AuthN
- can compare if any creds are leaked on dark web
- can’t do things like locked accounts/logon hours/expired password
Pass through AuthN (hybrid)
- If you want to use your onprem DCs for authentication
- Sending cred to “Entra ID”, but it checks with onprem
Federation (hybrid)
- Not recommended
- Could be ADFS or third-party thing
- Different flow:
- Cred to federation service
- Federation service will check with DC
- Create token and share with user
- User will use that token to get token from “Entra ID”
references:
Subscribe to NordLetter
A weekly newsletter on living in Finland.