Conflicting answers to a question.

[rafaelmolin]

What are two key aspects of LDAP authentication : I strongly choose  Authentication & Authorization. I've seen some say Data Population.. 

[rafaelmolin]

I have tried a search in the ServiceNow  administration fundamentals: participant guide and have had no luck.  

[Niklas Peterson]

Hi,

If we are specifically talking about "LDAP Authentication" it's only about one thing: Verifying the identity and credentials of an account in a Directory Service using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). The key word is Authentication.

LDAP can be used for data population as well, but then it's not authentication.

Regards,
Niklas

[rafaelmolin]

Authentication yes, but Authorization no is what you're saying....

[Niklas Peterson]

Hello again,

To me, authentication and authorization are two distinct concepts. For that reason, I wouldn't include authorization under the umbrella of LDAP authentication, even though they're closely related and often used together.

• Authentication is about verifying a user's identity (e.g., asking, "Who are you?").
• Authorization determines what resources or actions the user is allowed to access after authentication (e.g., asking, "What can you do?").

That said, the distinction can easily blur. LDAP is a protocol for directory services, and it can be used for both authentication and authorization, as well as storing information. So, the interpretation of "LDAP authentication" really depends on how strictly we define it.