Mutual authentication definition – Glossary (2024)

FAQs

Mutual authentication definition – Glossary? ›

Definitions: The process of both entities involved in a transaction verifying each other.

Mutual authentication is when two sides of a communications channel verify each other's identity, instead of only one side verifying the other. Mutual authentication is also known as "two-way authentication" because the process goes in both directions.

Mutual authentication is a security process where both the server and client validate each other's identities before initiating a connection. This protocol amplifies the security measures of a connection compared to conventional one-way authentication, where identity validation only happens from the server's end.

In TLS, only the server's identity is authenticated by the client, whereas in mTLS, both client and server identities are authenticated mutually. mTLS offers a higher level of security than standard TLS because it requires both client and server to authenticate each other.

Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) is a process that establishes an encrypted TLS connection in which both parties use X. 509 digital certificates to authenticate each other.

Disadvantages of Mutual TLS

However, there are a few disadvantages to mTLS: It's more complex to implement. The number of clients/servers is huge, and it's difficult and costly for the server to maintain certificates for all the clients and validate and verify each client for each session.

Authentication confirms that users are who they say they are. Authorization gives those users permission to access a resource. While authentication and authorization might sound similar, they are distinct security processes in the world of identity and access management (IAM).

What type of attacks can mutual authentication prevent? ›

Mutual authentication can prevent spoofing attacks because the server will authenticate the user as well, and verify that they have the correct session key before allowing any further communication and access. Impersonation attacks.

mTLS ensures that the parties at each end of a network connection are who they claim to be by verifying that they both have the correct private key. The information within their respective TLS certificates provides additional verification.

A Better Alternative: Webhook Signatures

Signing the payload offers several advantages over mTLS, making it a more suitable choice for securing webhook communication.

Mutual authentication requires both parties of a connection to prove their identity. This ensures only legitimate users can connect to the network, server, or app. Conversely, users can be certain they are connected to the right network, server, or program.

Mutual TLS (mTLS) is a variation on transport layer security (TLS). Traditional TLS is the successor to secure sockets layer (SSL) and is the most widely deployed standard for secure communication, most visibly in HTTPS.

In a mutual authentication process, a connection can occur only if the client and the server exchange, verify, and trust each other's certificates. The certificate exchange occurs by means of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

What is mutual authentication? A process by which each party in an online communication verifies the identity of the other party.

The difference between the two approaches is, in JWT-based authentication, the JWS can carry both the end user identity as well as the upstream service identity. With TLS mutual authentication, the end user identity has to be passed at the application level.

mTLS is a transport layer protocol that authenticates both client and server. OAuth 2.0 is an authorization framework to delegate access to resources. OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and certificate bound access is a rigorous way to secure your mTLS connection.