• Applications can authenticate using Access Control Service (ACS) in windows Azure.

• ACS is a security token service that supports claim based authentication and authorization by following methods:

  • User (solution) name and password

  • Windows Live ID

  • Windows CardSpace

  • X.509 certificate

  • Security Assertion Mark-up language (SAML) tokens issued by third party STSs.

Windows card space:

• A digital identify is an online or networked identity adopted or claimed in cyber space by an individual organization or electronic device.

• When transmitted on the network a digital identity is represented by some security token which included a claim containing a username

• Window cardSpace provide support for digital identities.

  i) User- the user is the entity that is associated with a digital identity.

  ii) Identity provider- for the digital identity assigned to you by your employer for example, the identity provider is typically a system such as Active Directory.

  iii) Replying party-a replying party will frequently use an identity to authenticate a user and then make an authorization decision. Such as allowing this user to access some information.

ii) Window Live ID

• Web authentication works by sending your users to the windows live ID sign-in page. The service then directs them back to your web site along with unique site- specific identifier that you can use to manage personalized content.

• Windows live ID data is not shared with your site

• All applications that you crate in Azure service developer portal are registered with wild service

• WILD assigns application ID value which is used to look up the return URL for hosted service to generate a personal unique ID no

• PUID is used as primary key for additional registration data provided for user.

• The secret key value encrypt & sign the security token provides by WILD service & corresponds to password for project.

iii) SAML

• It is an XML-based standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains, that is, between an identity provider(a producer of assertions) and a service provider(a consumer of assertions)