Authentication and Authorization Diagram

Each time you use a protected web application here at VCU, such as MyPortal, Blackboard, Google Apps, you are required to enter a set of credentials.  Authentication is the process of verifying that you are who you say you are by passing these credentials you provide (user name and password) across the identity and directory systems.  Once you have been verified that your credentials are OK, you are then authorized based off your group memberships, roles, and account settings.  Authorization is the process where you are either granted access to a system, or in cases where you have not been granted that access, you are denied.