Network and Authentication Security Technologies

Network and Authentication Security Technologies are the mechanisms computer systems use to protect data in transit and to verify that a person requesting access is who they claim to be. This group gathers four such mechanisms drawn from Internet software engineering: Transport Layer Security is a cryptographic protocol that secures communications over a computer network, widely used to protect email, instant messaging, voice over IP traffic and HTTPS web sessions; a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic according to configurable rules, establishing a barrier between a trusted and an untrusted network; single sign on is an authentication scheme allowing a user to log in once with a single identity to reach several independent related software systems; and multi factor authentication, commonly known as two factor authentication, is an authentication method that only grants access after a user presents two or more distinct types of evidence, protecting personal or financial data from an unauthorized party who has obtained only one credential such as a password. Together these four represent the encryption, perimeter control, and identity verification layers of software security engineering.