IntegrAuth Academy
Identity, security and practical AI — free, from zero. Byte-sized lessons, real diagrams, hands-on labs, zero fluff. Two programs, each with its own exam and certificate.
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What is identity?
An identity is a digital record that stands for a person or a thing. Maya is not inside the computer. Her identity is. Your goal: tell identity, account and persona apart, and tell "who are you?" from "what may you do?".
- An identity is the digital "who". An account is one login for it.
- A persona is a role, such as customer or employee.
- An identity holds identifiers (point at you), attributes (describe you) and credentials (prove it is you).
- Authentication asks "who are you?" Authorization asks "what may you do?"
- An identity provider (IdP) checks your login for many apps.
Three words people mix up
Identity
The digital "who": Maya, as our systems know her. Ideally there is one per person.
Account
A login record in one system. Maya may have many accounts: the app, the web store and the wallet.
Persona
A role the same person plays: customer, employee or partner agent. One person can have several personas. The personas lesson goes deeper.
What is inside an identity?
Think of your Aadhaar record. It holds three kinds of things. Each does a different job.
Identifier
It points at you. Your phone number, or Maya's email address. An identifier names one person. But many people may know it.
Attribute
It describes you. Your date of birth, your PIN code, or Priya's department. An attribute is a fact. It proves nothing.
Credential
It proves it is you. The OTP sent to your phone, a password or a fingerprint. A credential must stay secret.
Your phone number is not secret, so it cannot prove anything. The OTP sent to that phone can. That is why sign-in asks for both.
The two big questions
Every security decision answers two questions. Keep them apart. Authentication (AuthN) asks "who are you?" Authorization (AuthZ) asks "what may you do?"
Authentication (AuthN)
"Who are you?" You prove your identity with a password, a fingerprint or a passkey.
Authorization (AuthZ)
"What may you do?" The system decides your permissions: view an invoice, approve a refund, change a plan.
a cinema. The guard checks your ID at the gate. That is authentication. Your ticket says which hall you may enter. That is authorization.
Who answers "who are you?"
Companies check this in one place: an identity provider (IdP). It checks your login. Then it vouches for you to other apps. This gives you single sign-on (SSO): you sign in once, and it works everywhere. You have seen it as a "sign in with your existing account" button on shopping sites.
Most companies run two IdPs. A workforce IdP serves employees like Priya. This area is called EIAM (enterprise identity and access management). A customer IdP serves people like Maya. This area is called CIAM (customer identity and access management). Partner companies like Sam's employer are a third group, B2B.
Two more words
| Term | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| Federation | Two organizations agree to trust each other's logins. Sam signs in with his employer's IdP. Our systems accept it under a contract. This is "B2B federation". |
| IAM | Identity and access management: the whole field this track teaches. |
Go deeper: more words you will meet
| Term | Plain meaning |
|---|---|
| Directory | The address book of identities and their details. LDAP is the old, trusted way to ask a directory questions. |
| IGA | Identity governance and administration: the bookkeeping side. Who has what access? Who approved it? Is it still right? (the lifecycle lesson) |
| PAM | Privileged access management: extra care for the most powerful accounts. It often uses a credential vault and records the sessions. |
| Metadirectory | An older design: one hub directory that copies data between systems. It often creates duplicate identity data. |
Keep who someone is (authentication) apart from what they may do (authorization). Then the rest of identity is easier to follow.
🧪 Interactive lab — enable JavaScript to play with this one.
See what is inside the token at the end of the figure. Decode and grade a real one with ID Token Check.