What Is Two-Way Authentication?
Two-way authentication refers to the mechanism in computer security where both the client and server authenticate each other with certificates. A certificate is a form of guarantee that the information is obtained from the intended entity and not from a malicious entity. Due to cost of implementation, the mechanism is rarely used in client-server based systems. However, it may be used in peer-to-peer communication.
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Certificate Based Authentication
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Assume that two communicating entities are Alice and Bob. In a certificate-based authentication mechanism, Alice gets a certificate signed by a certifying authority. The certificate can be provided by companies such as Symantec VeriSign. This certificate ensures that the information obtained by Bob is certified to be from Alice.
Two-Way Authentication
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In a two-way authentication mechanism, both Alice and Bob exchange certificates. Therefore, both Alice and Bob can be sure that they are communicating with each other.
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Advantage
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Two-way authentication ensures a higher level of security compared to one-way authentication, where only one of the communicating entities is authenticated with a certificate. Both Alice and Bob can be sure that they know each others' identity.
Disadvantages
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Two-way authentication has higher cost compared to one-way authentication. Both Alice and Bob have to obtain certificates. In comparison, in one way authentication, only one of Alice or Bob has to obtain the certificate. In a client-server based communication mechanism, implementing two-way authentication via certificates can be more involved. For example, in a webmail-based system, each user with an email address would need to obtain a certificate. Further, the certificate must be obtained from an authority that the webmail provider approves. Therefore, most client-server schemes authorize the server with certificates but do not implement client side certificates.
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