Authentication With Encryption

Authentication with encryption is the basis of secure communication. Authentication helps ensure that the source and the destination are the intended parties. Encryption codes the communication at the source, and decodes the communication at the destination. Encryption prevents intruders from reading any transmissions that the intruders might manage to intercept. The Solaris features for secure communication include the following:

• Solaris Secure Shell – A protocol for protecting data transfers and interactive user network sessions from eavesdropping, session hijacking, and “man-in-the-middle” attacks. Strong authentication is provided through public key cryptography. X windows services and other network services can be tunneled safely over Secure Shell connections for additional protection. See Chapter 19, Using Solaris Secure Shell (Tasks).

• Kerberos service – A client-server architecture that provides authentication with encryption. See Chapter 21, Introduction to the Kerberos Service.

• Internet Protocol Security Architecture (IPsec) – An architecture that provides IP datagram protection. Protections include confidentiality, strong integrity of the data, data authentication, and partial sequence integrity. See Chapter 19, IP Security Architecture (Overview), in System Administration Guide: IP Services.