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Authentication

Authentication is the act of verifying the identity of the user. A common misconception is that authorization and authentication are one and the same; however, authentication is only part of the authorization process. As discussed in “Authorization,” after the user is authenticated, the authorization process involves determining what rights or privileges that user has.

Figure 1-3 shows an example of authentication in the System Preferences application.

Typically today, the user types in a user name and password to be authenticated. In future releases of Mac OS X, the user might produce a smart card, use a biometric identifier, such as a fingerprint or retinal scan, or use a combination of authentication methods.

When your application requests authorization of the user, you can set an option that allows the Security Server to interact with the user. Doing so tells the Security Server to request proof of identity from the user for authentication purposes, as needed.

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