Authentication to a SharePoint environment is the process in which a company’s IT architecture approves a user’s credentials, which is often a Windows-based authentication. Once the user has been authenticated to a SharePoint environment, the SharePoint authorization process takes over, creating a separate SharePoint profile, and determining which objects (sites, lists, and items) within the system the user can access and act on.

To fully understand the spectrum involved with managing permissions in a SharePoint environment, you need to know the components involved with permissions and how they work with one another.