Web Authentication Security

This document will cover four web authentication security techniques that are used by web server administrators to provide web browser clients access to the file systems on their host computers. These four authentication techniques are Basic Authentication, Digest Authentication, Database Authentication, Anonymous Authentication, and N-Tier Authentication. Because these four techniques are basic to security, they can, and often are, utilized on almost any web server. However, the web server referenced in this document will be Apache 1.3 HTTP Web Server. First, there is a brief introduction to web servers in general. Next, there is an introduction to the Apache Web Server in particular. Finally, all four of the web authentication techniques will be discussed. It is hoped that this document will provide enough detail to serve as a supplemental security how-to guide on using web authentication security.