A key technical underpinning of the Cloud is the Application Programming Interface (API). APIs provide consistent methods for outside entities such as web services, clients and desktop applications to interface with services in the Cloud.

More and more, it will be through APIs that cloud data moves; however, the security and scalability of APIs are currently threatened by a problem called the password anti-pattern.

OAuth 2.0 defeats the password anti-pattern, creating a consistent, flexible identity and policy architecture for web applications, web services, devices and desktop clients attempting to communicate with Cloud APIs.

Read the Windows IT PRO white paper to better understand what OAuth is, how it works, and real-world use cases.