Kerberos

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Kerberos is a network authentication system developed at MIT [1] and used (not without controversy [2]) by all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 2000 [3]. It is also used by various Unix-based systems. A central trusted server provides "tickets" which allow other machines to authenticate each other.

The Kerberos protocol is specified in RFC 4120. There is an active working group at the IETF with many more documents. Microsoft's usage is documented in RFC 3244 and RFC 4757.

There is a FAQ. IBM provide a Kerberos primer.