Sidewinder G2 6.1.2 Administration Guide - Glossary of Technical ...

Chapter 10: Setting Up Authentication
Authentication overview
Authentication
overview
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In general, authentication refers to a process that validates a person’s identity
before he or she is allowed to log into a network server. Depending on the
authentication method used, a person must provide a user name and valid
password and/or a special passcode or personal identification number (PIN)
before being logged on to a server. If a user enters an invalid password,
passcode, or PIN the log in request is denied.
There are two basic Sidewinder G2 authentication scenarios: proxy
authentication and Sidewinder G2 administrator authentication. The following
sections describe each scenario.
Proxy authentication
You can configure the Sidewinder G2 to authenticate network users trying to
connect from one side of the Sidewinder G2 to another via a Web, SOCKS5,
Telnet, or FTP proxy. You can authenticate proxy use for internal-to-external,
external-to-internal, and internal-to-internal connections.
• Internal-to-external authentication
You can authenticate internal users whenever they try to access a
SOCKS5, Telnet, FTP server, or Web access through the Sidewinder G2.
While internal users are generally thought to be trusted, authenticating
internal-to-external proxy connections provides an extra level of security
and allows you to closely track who is using each Internet service and how
long they are using it. (See Chapter 20 for information on Sidewinder G2
reporting.) For example, you might use this information for internal accounting.
Note that if you do not authenticate internal-to-external proxies, you
can still track Internet usage, but the tracking is done for each machine
address only (not for individual users).
• External-to-internal authentication
You can authenticate SOCKS5, Telnet, FTP, or Web access from the Internet
to hosts on an internal network. For example, an internal network may
have Telnet, FTP, or Web servers that users at another location need to
access via the Internet. In most, if not all cases, your Sidewinder G2 should
be configured to authenticate all external-to-internal proxy connections.
• Internal-to-internal authentication
When your Sidewinder G2 is configured with two Ethernet cards for two
internal networks, you can authenticate SOCKS5, Telnet, FTP, and Web
access from one internal network to a second internal network.