Using Kerberos protocol for Single Sign-On in Identity Management Systems

Abstract: Today, identity management systems are widely used in different types of organizations, from academic and government institutions to large enterprises. An important feature of identity management systems is the Single Sign-On functionality. Single Sign-On allows users to authenticate once, and freely use all services and resources available to them afterwards. In this paper, we present the usage of Kerberos in identity management systems. An overview of Kerberos protocol, state of the art of identity management systems and different generic architectures for identity management is given in the paper. Also, we present a Single Sign-On identity management architecture proposal based on Kerberos protocol, and discuss its properties. Special attention was given to authentication, authorization and auditing.