<?xml version='1.0'?>

<reference anchor='RFC2617'>

<front>
<title abbrev='HTTP Authentication'>HTTP Authentication: Basic and Digest Access Authentication</title>
<author initials='J.' surname='Franks' fullname='John Franks'>
<organization>Northwestern University, Department of Mathematics</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street />
<city>Evanston</city>
<region>IL</region>
<code>60208-2730</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>john@math.nwu.edu</email></address></author>
<author initials='P.M.' surname='Hallam-Baker' fullname='Phillip M. Hallam-Baker'>
<organization>Verisign Inc.</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>301 Edgewater Place</street>
<street>Suite 210</street>
<city>Wakefield</city>
<region>MA</region>
<code>01880</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>pbaker@verisign.com</email></address></author>
<author initials='J.L.' surname='Hostetler' fullname='Jeffery L. Hostetler'>
<organization>AbiSource, Inc.</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>6 Dunlap Court</street>
<city>Savoy</city>
<region>IL</region>
<code>61874</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>jeff@AbiSource.com</email></address></author>
<author initials='S.D.' surname='Lawrence' fullname='Scott D. Lawrence'>
<organization>Agranat Systems, Inc.</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>5 Clocktower Place</street>
<street>Suite 400</street>
<city>Maynard</city>
<region>MA</region>
<code>01754</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>lawrence@agranat.com</email></address></author>
<author initials='P.J.' surname='Leach' fullname='Paul J. Leach'>
<organization>Microsoft Corporation</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>1 Microsoft Way</street>
<city>Redmond</city>
<region>WA</region>
<code>98052</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>paulle@microsoft.com</email></address></author>
<author initials='A.' surname='Luotonen' fullname='Ari Luotonen'>
<organization>Netscape Communications Corporation</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>501 East Middlefield Road</street>
<city>Mountain View</city>
<region>CA</region>
<code>94043</code>
<country>US</country></postal></address></author>
<author initials='L.' surname='Stewart' fullname='Lawrence C. Stewart'>
<organization>Open Market, Inc.</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>215 First Street</street>
<city>Cambridge</city>
<region>MA</region>
<code>02142</code>
<country>US</country></postal>
<email>stewart@OpenMarket.com</email></address></author>
<date month='June' year='1999' />
<abstract>
<t>"HTTP/1.0", includes the specification for a Basic Access  Authentication scheme. This scheme is not considered to be a secure method of user authentication (unless used in conjunction with some external secure system such as SSL, as the user name and password are passed over the network as cleartext.</t>
<t>This document also provides the specification for HTTP's authentication framework, the original Basic authentication scheme and a scheme based on cryptographic hashes, referred to as "Digest Access Authentication".  It is therefore also intended to serve as a replacemen for RFC 2069.  Some optional elements specified by  RFC 2069 have been removed from this specification due to problems found since its publication; other new elements have been added for
   compatibility, those new elements have been made optional, but are strongly recommended.</t>
<t>Like Basic, Digest access authentication verifies that both parties to a communication know a shared secret (a password); unlike Basic,  this verification can be done without sending the password in the clear, which is Basic's biggest weakness. As with most other authentication protocols, the greatest sources of risks are usually  found not in the core protocol itself but in policies and procedures surrounding its use.</t></abstract></front>

<seriesInfo name='RFC' value='2617' />
</reference>
