OAuth is best described as which in the context of authentication protocols?

• A. OpenID
• B. OAuth
• C. PEAP
• D. SAML

Answer: (B)

OAuth is an authorization framework that enables a user to grant a third-party application access to their resources without sharing their credentials. It works by issuing access tokens the client uses to access protected APIs, rather than authenticating the user directly. In this context, the best description among the options is OAuth itself because it is the mechanism being discussed—the role it plays is to authorize access, not to verify identity. The other options refer to different authentication-related approaches: OpenID focuses on verifying who the user is, PEAP is a network access authentication method, and SAML is an assertion-based single sign-on protocol. If you need authentication on top of OAuth, OpenID Connect is commonly used, but the core OAuth framework remains about authorization.