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What is Authentication vs Authorization in ASP.NET Core?

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Authentication and authorization are two fundamental security concepts in ASP.NET Core Web APIs, but they serve different purposes. Authentication verifies who the user or application is, while authorization determines what that authenticated identity is allowed to access or perform. ASP.NET Core supports mechanisms such as JWT Bearer authentication, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Microsoft Entra ID, roles, claims, and policy-based authorization.
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Authentication verifies the identity of a user or application attempting to access a system, while Authorization determines what authenticated users are allowed to do. For example, a user may successfully authenticate using Microsoft Entra ID, but authorization policies determine whether that user can access administrative functions or sensitive business data. ASP.NET Core provides built-in support for authentication schemes, policy-based authorization, role-based authorization and claims-based authorization, ensuring secure enterprise applications.

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