| Abstract
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"HTTP/1.0", includes the specification for a Basic Access
Authentication scheme. This scheme is not considered to be a secure
method of user authentication (unless used in conjunction with some
external secure system such as SSL [5]), as the user name and
password are passed over the network as cleartext.
This document also provides the specification for HTTP's
authentication framework, the original Basic authentication scheme
and a scheme based on cryptographic hashes, referred to as "Digest
Access Authentication". It is therefore also intended to serve as a
replacement for RFC 2069 [6]. Some optional elements specified by
RFC 2069 have been removed from this specification due to problems
found since its publication; other new elements have been added for
compatibility, those new elements have been made optional, but are
strongly recommended.
Like Basic, Digest access authentication verifies that both parties
to a communication know a shared secret (a password); unlike Basic,
this verification can be done without sending the password in the
clear, which is Basic's biggest weakness. As with most other
authentication protocols, the greatest sources of risks are usually
found not in the core protocol itself but in policies and procedures
surrounding its use.
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