Introduction

This concept Access Token and JWT (JSON Web Token) is widely used in modern authentication with strong security for authentication and authorization of the application. Let us try to understand this concept in our common real-time scenario. For understanding in deep, I would recommend going through references.

Going to Movie

Let us consider a scenario where you are going to watch a movie in a theater. For that, you need to do the following in general,

After the show is completed the ticket becomes invalid and expired and you can’t use it for anything else.

What exactly is JWT?

The JWT (JSON web Token) exactly works in the same way. This is most widely used in modern authentication using OAuth. Access token will be used for following,

When you try to login to application if that application is using OAuth, usually you will be navigated to following steps in general

In Microsoft Identity an access token which is in the form of JWT is issued by authentication server, in M365 usually it is your Azure AD. It contains the following.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have seen what a JWT is and how this is being used in modern authentication using OAUTH.

References