My son is 12-year old son is creating an online game and asked "why do users have to login to be on the game's leaderboard." This prompted a discussion about how authentication and authorization are often confused and how they play distinct yet complementary roles in protecting each players games scores for his website. I explained the two as follows:
Authentication (AuthN) asks the question "Are you who you say you are?" It verifies an identity using credentials like passwords, biometrics, or MFA.
Authorization (AuthZ) asks "What are you allowed to do?" It determines what actions, or resources, you have access to after authentication.
You authenticate first (prove your identity), then get authorized (granted permissions). Without both, security is incomplete. The two concepts work in concert to prevent unauthorized system access or data tampering.
I know that probably wasn't the coolest conversation between a father and son, but his gaming site now has a user login page. :)
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