Describe the purpose and operation of a challenge-reply authentication system. What makes it more secure than a conventional password-based strategy is not immediately obvious.
Describe the purpose and operation of a challenge-reply authentication system. What makes it more secure than a conventional password-based strategy is not immediately obvious.
In a client-server system, password-based authentication is often used.
However, since passwords go via the internet, it is not very safe.
In such situations, a challenge-response system is more secure.
In a challenge-response system, the following rules apply:
Initially, the database will give the client a challenge string.
The client encrypts the challenge string using a secret password as the encryption key, then returns the result to the database.
The database then decrypts the same-password string and compares it to the original challenge string.
As a consequence, the client may be authenticated without having to provide his or her password over the network.
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