Re:JSON Web Tokens should be avoided
by tboyd47 on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @05:00PM
(#13871432)
I've got nothing against stateless tokens. What I'm saying is that it can be a much easier and more effective pattern to add a second layer of security than to add complexity to the first layer (the token). I believe this is like the idea of defense in depth. For example, making signed-in users re-enter their password before performing certain actions may be preferable to introducing cryptography into all sign-in actions.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
This isn't just for all sign-in actions.. it's for all API requests, and in some designs passthrough requests on behalf of a user to another server/service. It isn't just used for UI requests. It can also be used from Server to Server/Service requests... across data centers. You can do signed tokens/authentications without introducing many potential points of failure.