Authentication Mechanisms: Kerberos

SSO Implementation: Kerberos

Kerberos, described in RFC 1510, was originally developed by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and has become a popular network authentication protocol for indirect
(third-party) authentication services.

It is designed to provide strong authentication using secret-key cryptography. It is an

operational implementation of key distribution technology and affords a key distribution
center, authentication service, and ticket granting service. Hosts, applications, and servers all
have to be “Kerberized” to be able to communicate with the user and the ticket granting
service.