Course

Identity and Account Management

Identity and access management is all about verifying the right users have the right access to the tools and technologies needed to do their job. Learn about the most important security concepts related to identity and access management: identification, authentication, authorization, and accounting.
1 hour, 21 minutes 12 videos
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Syllabus

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Video - 00:01:00
Authentication can be configured and managed within a single organization to control access to IT resources. This episode covers identity federation and its relationship to identity and resource providers.
Creating Linux users and groups lab

Video - 00:06:00
User and group management in Linux can be performed at the command line. This demo makes use of the useradd and groupadd commands to create authentication identities.
Exam question review

Video - 00:02:00
There are a variety of ways in which user authentication can be implemented prior to allowing user access to the Internet. This question presents a scenario requiring user sign-off to a terms of agreement before gaining Internet access.
Identity management systems

Video - 00:06:00
How can authentication be removed from individual apps? The answer is identity federation, which uses a centralized identity provider that is trusted by resources, such as Web apps, and can also support single sign-on (SSO).
Network authentication

Video - 00:09:00
Older network authentication protocols such as password authentication protocol (PAP) and challenge handshake authentication protocol (CHAP) have been deprecated in favor of protocols such as Kerberos and extensible authentication protocol (EAP). Variations of the RADIUS authentication protocol are still used to authenticate users and devices to networks.
Account management

Video - 00:13:00
Accountability for resource access is possible only with people using their own unique user accounts where the principle of least privilege has been applied, ideally through group-assigned permissions. Account policies can determine conditions that allow or deny resource access, such as the location of a user.
Access control schemes

Video - 00:07:00
Controlling access to resources begins with policies governing how credentials are managed. Permissions to use resources can be configured through attribute-based access control (ABAC), role-based access control (RBAC), discretionary access control (DAC), and for high security environments, mandatory access control (MAC).
Authentication methods

Video - 00:14:00
Have you ever had trouble remembering usernames and passwords for multiple web apps? Password vaults serve as a protected credential repository in addition to common authentication methods such as one-time password codes, certificate-based authentication and SSH public key authentication.
Accounting

Video - 00:05:00
The 3 As – authentication, authorization, and accounting/auditing, play a big role in IT security. Tracking activity through auditing provides accountability for access to resources such as files on a file server or database rows.
Authorization

Video - 00:05:00
What role does authorization play in identity and access management (IAM)? Authorization relates to resource permissions granted to a security principal such as a user or device.
Enabling multifactor authentication

Video - 00:05:00
Multifactor authentication (MFA) hardens user sign-in by requiring more than one factor, or category of authentication, such as something you know combined with something you have.
Identification, authentication, and authorization

Video - 00:08:00
Authorization to access resources occurs after the successful proving of one’s identity through authentication.

Meet the author

Mike Meyers, affectionately called the "Alpha Geek," is the industry's leading authority on CompTIA certifications. He is the president and co-founder of Total Seminars, LLC, a provider of PC and network repair seminars, books, videos and courseware for thousands of organizations throughout the world. Mike has been involved in the computer and network repair industry since 1987 as a technician, instructor, author, consultant and speaker. He has sold over a million IT and certification books, including the best-selling CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide and CompTIA Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide. He has personally taught thousands of students, including U.S. senators, U.S. Supreme Court Justices, members of the United Nation, every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, many branches of the Department of Justice, hundreds of corporate clients and academic students at every level.

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