Oracle Database B10772-01 User Manual

Solving Security Challenges with Oracle Advanced Security

Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide

Authentication is used to prove the identity of the user. Authenticating user identity
is imperative in distributed environments, without which there can be little
confidence in network security. Passwords are the most common means of
authentication. Oracle Advanced Security enables strong authentication with Oracle
authentication adapters that support various third-party authentication services,
including SSL with digital certificates.

 shows user authentication with an Oracle database configured to use a

third-party authentication server. Having a central facility to authenticate all
members of the network (clients to servers, servers to servers, users to both clients
and servers) is one effective way to address the threat of network nodes falsifying
their identities.

This section contains the following topics:

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Centralized authentication also provides the benefit of

users. Single sign-on enables users to access multiple accounts and applications
with a single password. A user only needs to log on once and can then
automatically connect to any other service without having to give a username and
password again. Single sign-on eliminates the need for the user to remember and
administer multiple passwords, reducing the time spent logging into multiple
services.