Which statement correctly differentiates authentication, authorization, and accounting in a trusted agent context?

• A. Authorization grants rights and permissions.
• B. Accounting records actions for auditing and traceability.
• C. Authentication proves identity; authorization grants rights and permissions; accounting records actions for auditing and traceability.
• D. Authentication proves identity and is the only required step.

Answer: (C)

Understanding authentication, authorization, and accounting as three connected functions helps explain how access is controlled and tracked. Authentication is proving who you are—think of entering a username and password, using a token, or providing a fingerprint. Once identity is verified, authorization decides what you’re allowed to do—what resources you can access and what actions you may perform, based on your role or permissions. Accounting records what happens during the session—logs of logins, file accesses, commands executed, and timestamps—for auditing and traceability. The best answer combines all three: authentication proves identity; authorization grants rights and permissions; and accounting records actions for auditing and traceability. For example, you log in (authentication), your account is allowed to read a file (authorization), and the system logs that you accessed it (accounting). The other statements miss one of these pieces—focusing only on rights, or only on logging, or claiming authentication is the only required step.