Kerberos is a computer network authentication protocol which allows individuals communicating over an insecure network to prove their identity to one another in a secure manner. Kerberos prevents eavesdropping or replay attacks, and ensures the integrity of the data. Its designers aimed primarily at a client-server model, and it provides mutual authentication — both the user and the service verify each other's identity.

Kerberos builds on symmetric key cryptography and requires a trusted third party.

See WikiPedia:Kerberos for more information.

[edit] Case deployment info

Default Realm:

INS.CWRU.EDU

Kerberos Servers:

KERBEROS.CWRU.EDU
KERBEROS2.CWRU.EDU
KERBEROS3.CWRU.EDU

Admin Server:

KERBEROS.CWRU.EDU

[edit] Case krb5.conf File

Below is a krb5.conf file configured to use Case's Kerberos environment. For UNIX architectures, place a copy of the contents below to /etc/krb5.conf.

[libdefaults]
  default_realm = INS.CWRU.EDU
[realms]
  INS.CWRU.EDU = {
    kdc = kerberos.cwru.edu
    kdc = kerberos2.cwru.edu
    kdc = kerberos3.cwru.edu
    admin_server = kerberos.cwru.edu
  }
[domain_realm]
  cwru.edu = INS.CWRU.EDU
  .cwru.edu = INS.CWRU.EDU
  case.edu = INS.CWRU.EDU
  .case.edu = INS.CWRU.EDU