On most computer systems, a password is used to prove a user's identity. This password often is transmitted over the network and can possibly be intercepted by malicious hackers. Because this password is the one secret piece of information that identifies a user, anyone knowing a user's password can effectively be that user. Authentication methods protect the identity of the user.
The driver supports the following authentication methods:
User ID/password authentication authenticates the user to the database using a database user name and password.
Client authentication uses the user ID and password of the user logged onto the system on which the driver is running to authenticate the user to the database. The database server relies on the client to authenticate the user and does not provide additional authentication.
Kerberos authentication is a trusted third-party authentication service that verifies user identities. The SQL Server Wire Protocol driver supports both Windows Active Directory Kerberos and MIT Kerberos implementations.
NTLM authentication authenticates clients to the database through a challenge-response authentication mechanism that enables clients to prove their identities without sending a database password to the server. The driver supports NTLMv1 authentication on Windows clients.
Azure Active Directory Authentication authenticates the user to the Azure SQL Database data stores using an Active Directory user name and password.
User ID/password authentication authenticates the user to the database using a database user name and password.
