data origin authentication service

A security service that verifies the identity of a system entity that is claimed to be the original source of received data. (See: authentication, authentication service.)

Tutorial: This service is provided to any system entity that receives or holds the data. Unlike peer entity authentication service, this service is independent of any association between the originator and the recipient, and the data in question may have originated at any time in the past.

A digital signature mechanism can be used to provide this service, because someone who does not know the private key cannot forge the correct signature. However, by using the signer's public key, anyone can verify the origin of correctly signed data.

This service is usually bundled with connectionless data integrity service. (See: "relationship between data integrity service and authentication services" under "data integrity service".