Dictionary · Cybersecurity Fundamentals
AAA
AAA — Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
Identity · Intermediate
A framework that separates proving an identity, deciding what it may do, and recording what it did.
The three letters remind you to ask three different questions: who is this, what may they do, and where is the record? Network-access servers often forward those questions to a central service.
Example: A switch sends a login to a central server that accepts the user, limits their commands, and logs the session. That is AAA in practice.
Common misconception
- The letters are not a single product. They name three related decisions.