Simplifying Authentication: Understanding OAuth, OIDC, and SAML
If you're wondering what sets OAuth, OIDC, and SAML apart, it's all about the ABCs of user identity: authentication and authorization.
OAuth, OIDC, and SAML are all protocols used for user authentication and authorization in web applications.
Before we dive in, we need to understand the distinction between authentication and authorization.
Authentication and authorization are like a bouncer at a club. Authentication checks your ID at the door to make sure you're not a fake, while authorization checks the VIP list to see what access you have once you're inside.
OAuth is mainly used for allowing users to grant access to their resources on one website to another website or application, without sharing their login credentials. For example, if you use your Facebook account to log in to another website or app, OAuth is likely the protocol being used to authenticate you. The other example is Authorization for API access - Many APIs (e.g. Google Maps, Twitter) use OAuth to grant access to third-party applications that need to use their services. For example, a weather app may use Google Maps to show the user's current location on a map.
OIDC on the other hand, is a newer protocol that builds on top of OAuth and adds identity information to the authentication process. It is used to verify a user's identity and provide information about them, such as their name and email address. It is commonly used in modern single sign-on (SSO) systems.
SAML which stands for Security Assertion Markup Language, is an older protocol used primarily in enterprise environments and SaaS applications. It allows users to log in to multiple applications using a single set of credentials, which can simplify the login process and increase security. It also uses for cross-organizational collaboration - can be used to provide secure access to resources across different organizations. For example, a university may use SAML to allow students from different schools to access shared resources such as library databases.
In conclusion, these protocols serve different purposes in web authentication and authorization, and understanding the differences is important for building secure and efficient web applications.
Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope this information was helpful!