The term “authentication token” can have at least three different definitions, but is generally used to refer to an object that is used to authenticate one entity to another (see authentication). The various definitions for “authentication token” include the credentials provided to an authenticating party as part of an identity verification protocol, a data structure provided by an authentication server for later use in authenticating to a different application server, and a physical device or computer file used to authenticate oneself. These definitions are expanded below.
Credentials Provided to an Authenticating Party
In most identity verification or authentication protocols, the entity being authenticated must provide the authenticating entity with some proof of the claimed identity. This proof will allow the authenticating party to verify the identity that is being claimed and is sometimes called an “authentication token.” Examples of these types of authentication tokens include...
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© 2005 International Federation for Information Processing
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Zuccherato, R. (2005). Authentication token. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23483-7_17
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