| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Assurance Level | A relative measure of confidence in the quality of a credential. When used in this website, the assurance level ranges from level 1 (little or no confidence) to level 4 (very high degree of confidence). |
| Authentication | A process or method to identify and to prove the identity of a user/party who attempts to send message or access data. |
| Authorization | A process to grant rights to a person for accessing data or using specific information resources. |
| Credential | A set of claims used to prove the identity of a client. They contain an identifier for the client and a proof of the client's identity, such as a password. They may also include information, such as a signature, to indicate that the issuer certifies the claims in the credential. |
| Federation | Members of a federation system depend on each other to authenticate their respective users and vouch for their access to services offered by other members of the federation. |
| Hard Token | This is a hardware device that contains a protected cryptographic key that cannot be exported. |
| Identity Provider | An organization that issues identity credentials to individuals, and validates those credentials when presented by a user attempting to access a protected resource. An identity Provider may be a government agency, an academic institution, or a commercial business, such as a bank. |
| Relying Party | Anyone (or any application) that relies on someone's identity as represented by their credential. |
| Security Assertion | A security assertion is a statement about the identity of a user that is supported by the trust established at the receiving site on the issuer of the assertion. |
| Soft Token | This is a copy of software with a cryptographic key installed in the user's computer, PDA or smartphone. The cryptographic key is normally encrypted and stored on some storage media, and authentication requires entry of password or biometrics to activate the token. |
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