Authentication Syllabus

Learn how authentication works in web applications. Understand login systems, password verification, sessions, cookies, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and best practices for securing user accounts and web applications.

Learn how authentication works in web applications. Understand login systems, password verification, sessions, cookies, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and best practices for securing user accounts and web applications.

Learn how authentication works in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), now known as Microsoft Entra ID. Understand user sign-in, Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, identity management, and cloud security best practices.

Learn about Broken Authentication and Session Management vulnerabilities in web applications. Understand common authentication flaws, session hijacking, insecure session handling, attack techniques, and security best practices to protect user accounts and sensitive data.

Learn about Username and Password Authentication in web applications. Understand how login credentials are verified, password security practices, authentication workflows, common risks, and methods to secure user accounts.

Learn about Session-Based Authentication in web applications. Understand how sessions work, session IDs, cookies, user login management, authentication flow, security risks, and best practices for protecting user sessions.

Learn about Cookie-Based Authentication in web applications. Understand how authentication cookies work, user session tracking, login persistence, security risks, and best practices for securing authentication cookies and user accounts.

Learn about Token-Based Authentication in web applications. Understand how access tokens, refresh tokens, JWTs, API authentication, and stateless authentication work, along with security best practices and common use cases.

Learn the Authentication Flow in web applications, including user login, credential verification, identity validation, token or session creation, access control, and secure authentication processes used in modern systems.

Learn the fundamentals of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), now known as Microsoft Entra ID. Understand identity management, authentication, authorization, Single Sign-On (SSO), cloud security, and how Azure AD helps secure users, applications, and resources.

Learn about Users and Groups in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), now Microsoft Entra ID. Understand user management, group management, access control, role assignments, security groups, and how organizations manage identities and permissions in the cloud.

Learn about Single Sign-On (SSO), a secure authentication method that allows users to access multiple applications with one login. Understand how SSO works, its benefits, implementation methods, security considerations, and real-world use cases.

Learn about OAuth 2.0, the industry-standard authorization framework used to grant secure access to applications without sharing passwords. Understand OAuth 2.0 flows, access tokens, refresh tokens, scopes, and real-world implementation examples.

Learn about OpenID Connect (OIDC), a modern identity layer built on OAuth 2.0. Understand how OIDC enables secure user authentication, Single Sign-On (SSO), identity verification, ID tokens, and authentication for web, mobile, and cloud applications.

Learn about the Microsoft Identity Platform, Microsoft's identity and authentication solution for developers. Understand authentication, authorization, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Microsoft Entra ID integration, API security, and secure access to Microsoft services and applications.

Learn about common authentication vulnerabilities in web applications and systems. Understand weak passwords, credential stuffing, brute-force attacks, session hijacking, insecure authentication mechanisms, and best practices to secure user accounts and authentication processes.

Learn about Session Hijacking, a common web security attack where attackers steal or manipulate user sessions to gain unauthorized access. Understand attack methods, risks, real-world examples, and best practices for securing user sessions.

Learn about Session Fixation, a web security vulnerability where attackers force users to use a known session ID before authentication. Understand how session fixation attacks work, their impact, and best practices for preventing them in web applications.

Learn about Credential Stuffing, a cyber attack where attackers use stolen usernames and passwords to gain unauthorized access to user accounts. Understand how credential stuffing works, its risks, detection methods, and best practices for prevention.

Learn about Password Attacks, including brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, password spraying, credential stuffing, and phishing. Understand how attackers compromise accounts and discover best practices for securing passwords and user authentication.

Learn effective prevention techniques for authentication attacks, including strong password policies, multi-factor authentication (MFA), account lockout mechanisms, secure session management, and monitoring strategies to protect user accounts and web applications.

Learn about Strong Password Policies and how they improve security. Understand password complexity requirements, password length, password expiration, password management practices, and strategies to protect user accounts from cyber threats.

Learn about Password Hashing, a critical security technique used to protect user passwords. Understand how hashing algorithms work, password verification, salting, secure password storage, and best practices for preventing password theft and account compromise.

Learn about Salting in password security and cryptography. Understand how salts are added to passwords before hashing, how salting prevents rainbow table attacks, and why it is essential for secure password storage and authentication systems.

Learn the best practices for secure password storage. Understand password hashing, salting, modern hashing algorithms like bcrypt and Argon2, credential protection techniques, and how to safeguard user accounts from password theft and cyber attacks.

Learn about Password Reset Mechanisms and secure password recovery processes. Understand reset links, verification methods, one-time passwords (OTP), security questions, account recovery workflows, and best practices for preventing unauthorized access.

Learn what Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is and how it enhances security by requiring multiple forms of verification. Understand MFA factors, authentication methods, benefits, real-world examples, and best practices for protecting user accounts.

Learn about the different types of authentication factors used in cyber security and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Understand knowledge factors, possession factors, inherence factors, location factors, and behavior factors with practical examples.

Learn how to implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in web applications, cloud platforms, and enterprise environments. Understand MFA deployment methods, authentication factors, best practices, common challenges, and security benefits.

Learn the key benefits and limitations of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Understand how MFA enhances account security, reduces unauthorized access risks, and the challenges organizations may face when implementing and managing MFA solutions.

Learn what Single Sign-On (SSO) is and how it enables users to access multiple applications with a single login. Understand SSO architecture, authentication flow, benefits, security considerations, and real-world use cases in modern organizations.

Learn the key benefits of Single Sign-On (SSO), including improved user experience, enhanced security, reduced password fatigue, simplified access management, and increased productivity across applications and cloud services.

Learn about SAML Authentication and how it enables secure Single Sign-On (SSO) between identity providers and service providers. Understand SAML architecture, authentication flow, assertions, benefits, and enterprise security use cases.

Learn about Azure AD Single Sign-On (SSO), now part of Microsoft Entra ID. Understand how Azure AD SSO enables secure access to multiple applications with one login, improves user experience, enhances security, and simplifies identity management.

Learn the essential OAuth 2.0 terminology, including Resource Owner, Client, Authorization Server, Resource Server, Access Token, Refresh Token, Scopes, and Authorization Grants. Build a strong foundation for understanding OAuth authentication and authorization.

Learn about the OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code Flow, the most secure OAuth flow for web applications. Understand how authorization codes, access tokens, refresh tokens, and user consent work to provide secure authentication and authorization.

Learn about the OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow, a secure authorization method for server-to-server and machine-to-machine communication. Understand how client IDs, client secrets, access tokens, and API authentication work without user involvement.

Learn about OAuth 2.0 Refresh Tokens and how they allow applications to obtain new access tokens without requiring users to log in again. Understand refresh token lifecycle, security considerations, token rotation, and best practices.

Learn the key security considerations for OAuth 2.0 implementations. Understand token protection, secure storage, HTTPS requirements, PKCE, token expiration, refresh token security, and best practices to prevent common OAuth vulnerabilities and attacks.

Learn what OpenID Connect (OIDC) is and how it extends OAuth 2.0 to provide secure user authentication. Understand OIDC architecture, ID tokens, authentication flows, claims, and its role in modern identity and access management systems.

Learn the differences between OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0. Understand how OAuth 2.0 handles authorization, how OIDC adds authentication, and when to use each protocol in modern web, mobile, and cloud applications.

Learn about ID Tokens in OpenID Connect (OIDC) and how they securely convey user identity information. Understand ID token structure, claims, JWT format, validation process, and their role in modern authentication systems.

Learn the Authentication Flow in web applications, including user login, credential verification, identity validation, token or session creation, access control, and secure authentication processes used in modern systems.

Learn about the structure of JSON Web Tokens (JWT), including the Header, Payload, and Signature sections. Understand how JWTs work, how they are encoded, and how they enable secure authentication and authorization in modern applications.

Learn what JWT Claims are in JSON Web Tokens (JWT), including Registered Claims, Public Claims, and Private Claims. Understand how claims store user data, roles, and token metadata in authentication systems with clear examples.

Learn how JWT Token Validation works in authentication systems. Understand signature verification, expiration checks, issuer validation, and how servers securely verify JSON Web Tokens (JWT) to protect APIs and applications.

Understand JWT Token Expiration and the role of the exp claim in JSON Web Tokens. Learn how token lifetime is managed, why expiration is important for security, and how expired JWTs are handled in authentication systems.

Learn the best security practices for JSON Web Tokens (JWT). Understand how to safely store tokens, prevent attacks, use HTTPS, manage expiration, and implement secure authentication in modern web applications and APIs.

Understand the Session Lifecycle in Session Management, including creation, maintenance, validation, and termination of user sessions. Learn how web applications track user activity securely using sessions from login to logout.

Learn about Secure Cookies in web session management, including HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite attributes. Understand how cookies protect authentication sessions, prevent attacks like XSS and CSRF, and improve overall web application security.

Understand Session Timeout in web applications and how it helps secure user accounts by automatically ending inactive sessions. Learn about idle timeout, absolute timeout, and best practices for managing session expiration in authentication systems.

Learn about Logout Mechanisms in session management and authentication systems. Understand how user sessions are safely terminated using client-side logout, server-side invalidation, token revocation, and best practices to ensure secure sign-out in web applications.

Understand the Principle of Least Privilege in authentication and access control. Learn how granting users only the minimum required permissions improves security, reduces risk, and strengthens role-based access control in modern applications.

Learn Secure Credential Storage best practices for authentication systems. Understand how to safely store passwords using hashing, salting, and strong encryption methods to protect user data from breaches and unauthorized access.

Learn about MFA Enforcement in authentication systems and how Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) strengthens security by requiring multiple verification factors. Understand implementation methods, benefits, and best practices to prevent unauthorized access.

Learn how Monitoring and Logging improve authentication security by tracking user activities, detecting suspicious behavior, and enabling incident response. Understand best practices for logging login attempts, failures, and system events in secure applications.

Learn about Security Reviews in authentication systems and why regular security audits are essential. Understand how reviewing authentication flows, access controls, and system configurations helps identify vulnerabilities and improve overall application security.