Authentication Keys

NetWare® authentication uses a Public Key Encryption system that is virtually unbreakable. It consists of a private key and a public key. The keys are strings of numbers used in complex mathematical functions.

The workstation uses a private key to encode messages sent to the NetWare server. The server then uses a public key to decode the messages. The server knows that the workstation sent it because the workstation's private key is required to encode the message.

Neither the two keys nor the user's password are ever sent across the network.

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