Welcome back to C# Corner! Are you confused by the alphabet soup of API security? Developers often hear terms like JWT, OAuth, Bearer Tokens, and SSO, but knowing exactly when and how to use them can be tricky.
In this comprehensive guide, we break down the evolution and mechanics of every major API authentication method. We will explore how these technologies evolved, the specific problems they solve, and how to avoid choosing the wrong architecture for your web applications.
In this video, we cover:
Basic & Digest Authentication: Why the earliest methods evolved and why sending raw credentials is a risk.
Session Authentication: How traditional server-side cookies work and the challenges they pose for scaling.
API Keys vs. Bearer Tokens: Understanding the difference between identifying an application versus authorizing a user.
JSON Web Tokens (JWT): How signed payloads eliminate the need for constant database queries in microservices.
Access vs. Refresh Tokens: Designing secure, short-lived sessions without frustrating your users.
OAuth 2.0 & OpenID Connect (OIDC): The critical difference between granting authorization and verifying user identity.
Single Sign-On (SSO): How protocols like OIDC and SAML power seamless enterprise login experiences.
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