Security concepts refer to the strategies, controls, and frameworks used to protect data, systems, and networks from unauthorized access or damage. Core ideas include confidentiality, integrity, availability, and non-repudiation.
Agent authentication is the process of verifying the identity of an AI agent, service, or automated workload before it’s allowed to access tools, data, or APIs. It ensures that autonomous systems act within defined boundaries and that each action is tied to a verifiable, trusted entity.
Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s directory service that manages and authenticates users, computers, and resources within a networked environment. It provides centralized control over identities, permissions, and access policies across Windows-based systems.
An authentication method that requires users to provide multiple forms of verification, such as passwords, biometrics, or tokens, to access sensitive resources. Some secrets managers support MFA to enhance security when accessing stored secrets.
Posture Assessment
Security concepts
A posture assessment evaluates the security status or “posture” of an organization’s IT environment. In IAM, it assesses how secure the current configuration of identities, access controls, and policies are, ensuring they adhere to best practices and regulatory requirements.
RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
Security concepts
A method of access control where permissions are assigned to roles, and users or entities are assigned to those roles. Password managers may implement RBAC to enforce fine-grained access control and restrict access to sensitive features or data.
Hashing
Security concepts
In identity management, hashing is used to store and verify credentials like passwords by converting them into a fixed-size string of characters. Hashing algorithms also play a role in managing machine identities securely.
Granularity
Security concepts
Refers to the level of detail in access control. Granular access control policies allow organizations to define fine-grained permissions for users and machines, such as who can access specific workloads or data sets.
Secret
Security concepts
Any sensitive piece of information that should be protected from unauthorized access, including passwords, cryptographic keys, tokens, and other credentials used to authenticate users or access resources.
Encryption
Security concepts
The process of encoding data in such a way that only authorized parties can access and decrypt it. Password managers and vaults use encryption to protect stored passwords and sensitive information, ensuring confidentiality and data security.
Service-to-Service Authentication
Security concepts
Authentication mechanism used between services or applications to establish trust and securely exchange information without human involvement. Service-to-service authentication often relies on cryptographic protocols, such as OAuth 2.0, to authenticate and authorize interactions.
