CompTIA CySA+ Practice Test

What protocol complements OAuth2 by providing authentication in identity management?

1. Kerberos

2. ADFS

3. SAML

4. OpenID Connect

The correct answer is: OpenID Connect

OpenID Connect is a protocol built on top of OAuth2, specifically designed to handle authentication in the context of identity management. While OAuth2 is primarily concerned with authorization—granting access to resources without sharing credentials—OpenID Connect adds a layer of authentication that allows clients to verify the identity of the user. This is achieved by introducing the concept of ID tokens, which contain information about the authenticated user and can be used by clients to manage user sessions accordingly. By complementing OAuth2 in this way, OpenID Connect allows applications to not only request access to specific resources but also to verify the identity of the user making the request. In contexts where seamless authentication and authorization processes are required, such as web applications and mobile apps, OpenID Connect is often preferred due to its simplicity and effectiveness in managing user identity. This makes it a key component in modern identity management frameworks. Other options do not fit this role as precisely as OpenID Connect does. For instance, while Kerberos is primarily an authentication protocol used in network security, and SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is another mechanism used for exchanging authentication and authorization data, neither is specifically designed to enhance OAuth2 in the same way that OpenID Connect does. ADFS