11.1 Introduction

Authentication means making the server aware of who you are and verifying your identity. Logging in to Business Collaborator is generally done using "cookie authentication". This provides improved security over "basic authentication" for Business Collaborator users by giving them

• the ability to log out explicitly
• automatic log out if they do not perform any actions for some time
• log in page customisable by system administrator

The log-out feature prevents other users from gaining access to your documents after you have finished using your browser. With form-based authentication, you either log out when you have finished using the system or the system logs you out if you have not actively used the system for a certain length of time. Both methods of logging out ensure that another user has to enter a valid username and password to use the same computer to access Business Collaborator.

Certain web browser settings are required to permit "cookie authentication" - as detailed in section 11.2. If these settings are incorrect, users will not be able to log in.

Note 1

If your organisation uses NTLM Authentication, you may not be required to enter a user name or password to gain access to Business Collaborator. In this case, logging in to your local network will automatically log in to Business Collaborator.

Note 2

The time for which a Business Collaborator user can be inactive before their session expires is the same for each user. However, it is configurable by the server administrator and so may vary between Business Collaborator servers. Typically, it is set to 30 minutes.