8 Best Books on Authentication and Authorization with OAuth 2.0 [2024]
Security is a vital part of any application and cloud environment and should never be an afterthought. Authentication and authorization form a critical component of identity and access management and cybersecurity in general.
Authentication is basically the process of checking/validating the identity of a person. Authorization is the process of checking whether the user requesting to access a resource or a set of resources is allowed to access the resource or not.
In this article, we have compiled a list of the best books on Authentication and Authorization with OAuth 2.0 through a collection of book reviews. Each book review will highlight the taste of the book, the contents covered, and how it can benefit you.
Why Learn Authentication and Authorization?
Here are a few reasons why learning Authentication and Authorization is a great investment in your future.
An evergreen industry: With the advent of topics like Big Data, the Internet of Things, and Cloud Computing the permanent stature of Cybersecurity and the magnitude of its importance has been very well set in stone. So if you wish to learn Authentication and Authorization in today’s age, it’s definitely a good idea.
Plenty of opportunities: If you want to boost your career opportunities, you can get tons of job opportunities by learning the concepts of Authentication and Authorization.
A job that never gets bored: Due to the unpredictable nature of the future, a career in cybersecurity is not and cannot be static and stale. You will be challenged on a regular basis.
High Salaries: The world has realized the sheer importance of cybersecurity. Organizations are willing to pay high salaries and provide training and development. There are great opportunities for anyone starting a career in cybersecurity.
What makes the best Authentication and Authorization books?
Here are our criteria for the selection of the books:
The book should contain a variety of instructional materials, including exercises, examples, questions, learning activities, and other features that promote a programmer’s engagement and active learning.
It must have a structured, clear, and logical progression of topics.
Content must be up-to-date and should thoroughly teach and explain the basic concepts of Authentication and Authorization.
Use clear, precise, and easy-to-understand language.
The book should have a clear layout and must be friendly toward self-taught programmers.
Best Books on Authentication and Authorization
Books make up for the primary mode of learning. With so many books out there to learn about Authentication and Authorization, the readers are left confused deciding which one to buy. Here, we have reviewed a list of six excellent Authentication and Authorization books.
Let's check them out:
1. Best book for hands-on learners: OAuth 2 in Action
OAuth 2 in Action by Justin Richer is a comprehensive and thorough treatment of the OAuth 2.0 protocol and many of its surrounding technologies, including OpenID Connect and JOSE/JWT. The book teaches you the practical use and deployment of this HTTP-based protocol from the perspectives of a client, authorization server, and resource server.
Part 1 - First steps
Chapter 1 talks about what OAuth 2.0 is
Chapter 2 is about the OAuth dance
Part 2 - Building an OAuth 2 environment
Chapter 3 talks about building a simple OAuth client
Chapter 4 talks about building a simple OAuth protected resource
Chapter 5 talks about building a simple OAuth authorization server
Chapter 6 discusses OAuth 2.0 in the real world
Part 3 - OAuth 2 implementation and vulnerabilities
Chapter 7 covers common client vulnerabilities
Chapter 8 covers common protected resources vulnerabilities
Chapter 9 covers common authorization server vulnerabilities
Chapter 10 covers common OAuth token vulnerabilities
Part 4 - Taking OAuth further
Chapter 11 talks about OAuth tokens
Chapter 12 covers Dynamic client registration
Chapter 13 covers User authentication with OAuth 2.0
Chapter 14 talks about Protocols and profiles using OAuth 2.0
Chapter 15 guides you Beyond bearer tokens
Chapter 16 is the summary and conclusions
The book has a practical approach with a lot of real world examples. You'll learn how to confidently and securely build and deploy OAuth on both the client and server sides.
2. Best book for completionists: Solving Identity Management in Modern Applications
Solving Identity Management in Modern Applications by Yvonne Wilson gives you what you need to design identity and access management for your applications and to describe it to stakeholders with confidence. You will be able to explain account creation, session and access management, account termination, and more.
This book takes you from account provisioning to authentication to authorization and covers troubleshooting and common problems to avoid. After reading the book, you'll be able to:
Understand key identity management concepts
Incorporate essential design principles
Design authentication and access control for a modern application
Know the identity management frameworks and protocols used today (OIDC/ OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0)
Review historical failures and know how to avoid them
The information in this book is laid out in a way that's easy to follow and the chapters all flow together seamlessly. The book is perfect for developers, enterprise or application architects, business application or product owners, and anyone involved in an application's identity management solution.
3. Best book for beginners: OAuth 2.0 Simplified
OAuth 2.0 Simplified by Aaron Parecki is a guide to building an OAuth 2.0 server. Through high-level overviews, step-by-step instructions, and real-world examples, you will learn how to take advantage of the OAuth 2.0 framework while building a secure API.
It is simple and clear enough for beginners, yet thorough enough to be a useful reference for experienced developers keeping their skills up to date.
The book is divided into twenty-five chapters and includes the following topics.
Getting Ready
Accessing Data in an OAuth Server
Signing in with Google
Server-Side Apps
Single-Page Apps
Mobile and Native Apps
Making Authenticated Requests
Client Registration
Authorization
Scope
Redirect URLs
Access Tokens
Listing Authorizations
The Resource Server
OAuth for Native Apps
OAuth for Browserless and Input-Constrained Devices
Protecting Mobile Apps with PKCE
Token Introspection Endpoint
Creating Documentation
Terminology Reference
Differences Between OAuth 1 and 2
OpenID Connect
IndieAuth
Map of OAuth 2.0 Specs
In the long run, this book will save you a lot of time and make complex things simple and easy to understand.
Other books you may like:
4. Best book for serious learners: Advanced API Security: OAuth 2.0 and Beyond
Advanced API Security: OAuth 2.0 and Beyond by Prabath Siriwardena teaches you about TLS Token Binding, User-Managed Access (UMA) 2.0, Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), Incremental Authorization, Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE), and Token Exchange. The book shows you how to apply OAuth 2.0 to your own situation in order to secure and protect your enterprise APIs from exploitation and attack.
This book gets right to the point but makes the information interesting and relevant. After reading the book, you will be able to…
Securely design, develop, and deploy enterprise APIs
Pick security standards and protocols to match business needs
Mitigate security exploits by understanding the OAuth 2.0 threat landscape
Federate identities to expand business APIs beyond the corporate firewall
Protect microservices at the edge by securing their APIs
Develop native mobile applications to access APIs securely
Integrate applications with SaaS APIs protected with OAuth 2.0
5. Best book for system engineers and software developers: Securing the Perimeter
Securing the Perimeter: Deploying Identity and Access Management with Free Open Source Software by Michael Schwartz provides the key concepts and patterns to help administrators and developers leverage a central security infrastructure.
The book documents a recipe to take advantage of open standards to build an enterprise-class IAM service using free open-source software. The book is divided into ten chapters
Chapter 1 gives you the Introduction
Chapter 2 covers LDAP
Chapter 3 talks about SAML
Chapter 4 covers OAuth
Chapter 5 covers OpenID Connect
Chapter 6 covers Proxy
Chapter 7 talks about Strong Authentication
Chapter 8 talks about User-Managed Access
Chapter 9 covers Identity dentity Management
Chapter 10 talks about Multiparty Federation
Here's what you will get from the book:
Understand why you should deploy a centralized authentication and policy management infrastructure
Use the SAML or Open ID Standards for web or single sign-on, and OAuth for API Access Management
Synchronize data from existing identity repositories such as Active Directory
Deploy two-factor authentication services
This book is perfect for Security architects (CISO, CSO), system engineers/ administrators, and software developers.
6. Best book for the visual learner: OAuth 2.0: Getting Started in API Security
OAuth 2.0: Getting Started in API Security by Matthias Biehl offers an introduction to API security with OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. You will gain an overview of the capabilities of OAuth and learn the core concepts of OAuth.
This book is a complete reference and is easy to follow. It includes examples that help to make the concepts clear. This book uses many illustrations and sequence diagrams.
The book presents the challenges and benefits of OAuth followed by an explanation of the technical concepts of OAuth. The different OAuth flows are visualized graphically using sequence diagrams.
This book provides all the necessary information to get started with OAuth in less than 50 pages.
7. Best Book for Spring Developers: Spring Security in Action, Second Edition
Spring Security in Action by Laurentiu Spilca teaches you how to secure your Java applications from the ground up. This latest edition covers the latest patterns for application-level security in Spring apps, demonstrating how Spring Security simplifies every step of the security process.
Here’s what you’ll learn from the book:
Implement and customize authentication and authorization
Set up all components of an OAuth2/OpenID Connect system
Utilize CRSF and CORS configurations
Secure Spring reactive applications
Write tests for security configurations
The book includes deep coverage of OAuth2/OpenID Connect and security configuration using the new SecurityFilterChain. It is divided into six parts and eighteen chapters.
PART 1
Chapter 1 talks about Security
Chapter 2 covers Spring Security
PART 2
Chapter 3 talks about Managing users
Chapter 4 talks about Managing passwords
Chapter 5 talks about web app’s security with filters
Chapter 6 covers Implementing authentications
PART 3
Chapter 7 talks about Configuring endpoint-level authorization: Restricting access
Chapter 8 talks about Configuring endpoint-level authorization: Applying restrictions
Chapter 9 covers Configuring CSRF protection
Chapter 10 covers Configuring CORS
Chapter 11 talks about Implementing authorization at the method level
Chapter 12 talks about Implementing filtering at the method level
PART 4
Chapter 13 covers OAuth 2 and OpenID Connect
Chapter 14 talks about Implementing an OAuth 2 authorization server
Chapter 15 talks about Implementing an OAuth 2 resource server
Chapter 16 covers Implementing an OAuth 2 client
PART 5
Chapter 17 talks about implementing security in reactive applications
PART 6
Chapter 18 covers Testing security configurations
After reading the book, you’ll be able to build your own authorization server, configure secure endpoints, and prevent cross-site scripting and request forgery attacks.
8. Best Book for Developers: Demystifying OpenID Connect: From Concept to Security
Demystifying OpenID Connect: From Concept to Security by Kouhei Toki provides a comprehensive, essential, and concise description of OpenID Connect. This book is structured as follows:
OpenID Connect Overview: This section provides an introduction to OpenID Connect, starting with an explanation of OAuth 2.0 as its foundation. It then delves into the extensions and the various actors involved.
Use Cases of OIDC: This section outlines several practical scenarios for utilizing OpenID Connect, including:
Leveraging data from external platforms like social networking sites.
Delegating authentication to third-party websites.
Implementing single sign-on solutions.
Ensuring secure API calls between backend services.
Endpoints and Flows: Illustrated with diagrams, this part explains the following flows:
Authorization Code Flow
Implicit Flow
Hybrid Flow
Client Credentials Flow
Resource Owner Password Credential Flow
Details of Authorization Code Flow for SPA: Focusing on the Authorization Code Flow, this section provides a detailed explanation supported by concrete examples.
JWT: This section explores the use of JSON Web Tokens (JWT) as the data format for ID Tokens and Access Tokens, covering the format and key Claims.
After Obtaining Access Token: This part covers various actions after obtaining the Access Token, including:
Accessing the Resource Server
Access Token Validation
Access Token Refreshing
User Information Retrieval
Logout Processes
Security Threats and Countermeasures: Discussing security concerns, this section addresses the following threats and their countermeasures:
CSRF Attacks on Redirection Endpoints
Open Redirection Vulnerabilities
Authorization Code Leakage via Referrer Headers
Access Token Diversion to Unauthorized Clients
Authorization Server Mix-up
Malicious URI Schema Registrations
Countermeasures for Authorization Code Leakage (PKCE)
Using Library: Recognizing the complexity of coding directly from OIDC specifications, this chapter illustrates the ease of application development using existing libraries.
References: There is a compilation of references used throughout the book, aiding readers in accessing additional detailed information beyond its scope.
More Ways to Learn Authentication
The books on Authentication and Authorization featured in this post will help anyone looking to gain insight into the growing field.
Going with the current trend, taking an online course from the comfort of your home is a great and convenient way to pitch into this smokey hot field.
Codecademy: You can learn authentication foundations with the following interactive courses. For more on Codecademy Pro, see my Codecademy Pro review.
User Authentication & Authorization in Express is a 7-hours high-rated course. You will learn how to implement a variety of authentication and authorization techniques using Express and Node.js.
Learn Authentication with Ruby on Rails is a 3-hour course to help you learn how to authenticate and authorize with a Rails application.
Udemy: Learn OAuth 2.0 - Get started as an API Security Expert is a 3.5 hours high-rated course. You will learn how to use OAuth in Mobile Apps (client-side). You will learn how to use OAuth to protect your APIs and Cloud Solutions and apply OAuth Best Practices.
If you're looking for free online resources, I have compiled over 70 coding resources to help you in your technical career. Thank you so much for reading this article to the end, and I will see you in the next one.