This content explores the role of Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) as essential security controls supporting the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) in cybersecurity. It explains each AAA component, their importance, AI-driven challenges, common implementation scenarios, and practical ethical hacking considerations to strengthen system defenses.
AAA in Ethical Hacking: The Bouncers of the CIA Club (With AI Trying to Sneak In) If the CIA triad is the club everyone wants into, AAA are the bouncers, the velvet rope, and the security camera receipts. We already met Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability — the CIA Triad. Today we talk abou...
Authentication — proving you are you What it is: Verifies identity. Factors include something you know (password), have (token), are (biometric), or do (behavioral pattern). Why it matters for CIA: Mostly guards confidentiality and integrity — if you cannot prove you are you, you should not see or c...
Authorization — deciding what you can do What it is: Enforces access rights after identity is verified. Why it matters for CIA: Limits blast radius, protecting both confidentiality and integrity. Policy models: RBAC: Roles define permissions (Admin, Analyst, Intern). Simple, scalable, prone to privi...
Accounting — logging, tracing, and holding receipts What it is: Monitoring and recording actions. Think audit trails, SIEM dashboards, anomaly detection. Why it matters for CIA: Supports integrity (non-repudiation), helps availability (capacity planning, forensics), and indirectly boosts confidentia...
AAA vs CIA: Who Protects What AAA Component Protects Mainly How it helps Authentication Confidentiality, Integrity Blocks imposters at the gate Authorization Confidentiality, Integrity Limits actions and data exposure Accounting Integrity, Availability Detects, proves, and helps recover Together, AA...
Protocols in the Wild: Where AAA Shows Up Area Common Tech Typical Use Common gotchas Enterprise login Kerberos, LDAP/AD Single sign-on inside orgs SPNs, constrained delegation, stale service creds Network access RADIUS, TACACS+ VPNs, Wi‑Fi, device admin Shared secrets, weak EAP methods Web SSO SAML...
A Tiny Policy Story (ABAC edition) Picture a finance approval system. You want managers to approve invoices only during business hours, on managed devices, for their own department, and for documents classified Internal. Policy sketch: permit if subject.role == 'manager' and subject.department == re...
How AI Changes the Game (and How AAA Fights Back) Smarter phishing and pretexting: LLM-crafted emails and voice clones. Counter: phishing-resistant MFA (WebAuthn), step-up authentication for risky contexts. Automated password attacks: ML-guided lists tuned to your org. Counter: rate limiting, creden...
Ethical Hacker’s Field Notes (Safe, Sanctioned, Sane) When testing AAA in a legal, scoped environment: Authentication Are there phishing-resistant options? Is push approval protected against fatigue? Do lockout and rate limits balance availability vs brute-force defense? Are password policies using ...
Quick Scenario: The Intern, the CFO, and the AI Bot The intern logs in from a managed laptop, 9:15 AM, low-risk. Access to staging only. Accounting notes a successful login. The CFO attempts to approve a 7-figure transfer from a new device at 2 AM. Risk engine says ‘absolutely not’ — step-up auth tr...
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