What is AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting)? Last Updated : 11 May, 2020 Summarize Comments Improve Suggest changes Share Like Article Like Report Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) is an architectural framework to gain access to computer resources, enforcing policies, auditing usage, to provide essential information required for billing of services and other processes essential for network management and security. This process is mainly used so that network and software application resources are accessible to some specific and legitimate users. The AAA concept is widely used in reference to the network protocol RADIUS. The first step: Authentication Authentication is the method of identifying the user. With the help of the user's authentication credentials, it checks if the user is legitimate or not or if the user has access to the network, by checking if the user's credentials match with credentials stored in the network database. After the authentication is approved the user gains access to the internal resources of the network. Authorization For the user to perform certain tasks or to issue commands to the network, he must gain authorization. It determines the extent of access to the network and what type of services and resources are accessible by the authenticated user. Authorization is the method of enforcing policies. Accounting In this stage, the usage of system resources by the user is measured: Login time, Data Sent, Data Received, and Logout Time. Accounting Process is carried out by logging out the session statistics and usage information and is used for authorization control, billing, resource utilization. The Pros AAA framework increases the scalability of a network: Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system. It causes increased flexibility and better control of the network. It helps maintain standard protocols in the network. RADIUS allows for unique credentials for each user. IT Admins will have a central point for the user and system authentication. The Cons On RADIUS Servers, Configuration and Initial setup can be complicated and time-consuming. It is a very hard choice to determine which is the best RADIUS server software and implementation model for your organization. Maintenance can be difficult and time-consuming for on-prem hardware. References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(computer_security) Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article What is AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting)? K kondalalith1 Follow Improve Article Tags : Computer Networks Network-security Similar Reads Computer Network | AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) The administrator can take access to a router or a device through a console but it is very inconvenient if he is sitting far from the place of that device. So, eventually, he has to take remote access to that device. But as remote access will be available by using an IP address, therefore, it is pos 4 min read AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) configuration (locally) Prerequisite - AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) To provide security to access network resources, AAA is used. AAA is a standard based framework used to control who is permitted to use network resources (through authentication), what they are authorized to do (through authorization) 3 min read Authentication and Authorization in Microservices In microservices, ensuring data security is paramount. Authentication and authorization are two crucial components of this security framework. This article provides a straightforward overview of how authentication verifies user identity and how authorization controls access to resources within micro 11 min read Difference Between Authentication and Authorization Authentication and Authorization are utilized in data security, allowing the safeguarding of an automated data system. Both are very crucial topics often associated with the internet as key components of its service infrastructure. However, each term is distinct, representing different concepts. Whi 4 min read How to use Azure Active Directory to Manage User Authentication and Authorization? Microsoft is currently replacing the cloud-based identity and access management service Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) with Microsoft Entra ID. It is an element of the Identity as a Service (IDaaS) class and serves as a refuge for user profiles, both individual and public. An extensive overview o 10 min read Like