Security Support Provider Interface

Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) allows an application to use various security models available on a computer or network without changing the interface to the security system. SSPI does not establish logon credentials because that is generally a privileged operation handled by the operating system. A security support provider (SSP) is contained in a dynamic-link library (DLL) that implements SSPI by making one or more security packages available to applications. Each security package provides mappings between the SSPI function calls of an application and the functions of an actual security model. Security packages support security protocols such as Kerberos authentication and LAN Manager.