Remember AAA
Full name: Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
Memory aid: Who are you? What can you do? What did you do?
Accounting means activity records here, not financial bookkeeping.
Study area: Identity & access · Batch 3
Relevant study for: CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 · ISC2 CISSP 2024 outline · ISC2 SSCP · Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals SC-900 · Identity and Access Administrator SC-300 · ISC2 CC · Cybersecurity Architect SC-100
Practice with exam flashcards →Cybersecurity & Identity / Knowledge library
AAA — Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
Verifies identity, decides permissions, and records activity.
Why learn AAA — Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting?
Verifies identity, decides permissions, and records activity.
Where it came from
Accounting means activity records here, not financial bookkeeping.
- Memory aid (a learning cue, not the expansion): Who are you? What can you do? What did you do?
Build your understanding
Work through these exercises in order. Try the task before opening a reference.
- Without looking, expand AAA: Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.
- Recall this memory aid: Who are you? What can you do? What did you do?
- Explain the practical use: Verifies identity, decides permissions, and records activity.
- Explain this distinction: Accounting means activity records here, not financial bookkeeping.
- Identify AAA in a device specification, architecture diagram, or system inventory.
Documentation and sources
- NIST cybersecurity glossary (csrc.nist.gov)