— The RISC OS Authentication Service —

Frequently Asked Questions (Kerberos)

Kerberos

What is Kerberos?

Kerberos is an authentication protocol which allows you to securely prove your identity to others over an insecure network. You request a ‘ticket’ from a ‘key distribution centre’ (KDC) for use with a particular network service. You then present that ticket to the service, and the service checks its validity with the KDC.

What are the benefits of Kerberos?

It is a well-established, open standard. It can be used to secure almost any type of network service. Services you access see only the ticket you present, not the credentials used to obtain that ticket.

What are the drawbacks of Kerberos?

At present it is not directly usable from RISC OS, and indirect use negates some of its security benefits. It is difficult to use unless all parts of the system fall within a single administrative realm.

What is the name of your Kerberos realm, and where is your KDC?

Our Kerberos realm is called “RISCID.ORG”.

For (probably unwarrented) security reasons our KDC is not currenly accessible from the Internet at large, so please contact us first if you wish to offer authentication using this method.