KERBEROS -WORKING EXPLAINED

Kerberos: The Working

So when does Kerberos jump in? Well, as soon as you want to login and type in your Username in the space provided. As soon as you type the confidential information, the Kerberos sends it to the Authentication Server or the AS. Then, the AS replies to the client with the session key and something called the Ticket Granting Ticket. Both the session key and the Ticket Granting ticket are encrypted by the user’s key. Now, before we go on, I think there is need to explain certain things involved in the above process.

Now, you must remember that the client and the Authentication Server and the client share an encryption key, which is used to encrypt data. This encrypted data is understandable (de-cryptable) by only the AS and the client. This encryption key is generated from the User’s Password. This means that, passing the User’s password through a certain predefined formula derives this encryption key. Similarly all Servers, which provide services to clients, share an encryption key with the AS.