:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT

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[id="security-overview_{context}"]
= Securing Kafka

[role="_abstract"]
A secure deployment of Strimzi might encompass one or more of the following security measures:

Encryption:: 
Strimzi supports Transport Layer Security (TLS), a protocol for encrypted communication. 
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* Communication is always encrypted between Strimzi components. 
* To set up TLS-encrypted communication between Kafka and clients, you configure listeners in the `Kafka` custom resource.

Authentication::
Kafka listeners use authentication to ensure a secure client connection to the Kafka cluster. 
Clients can also be configured for mutual authentication.
Security credentials are created and managed by the Cluster and User Operator.
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Supported authentication mechanisms:
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* mTLS authentication (on listeners with TLS-enabled encryption)
* SASL SCRAM-SHA-512
* OAuth 2.0 token based authentication
* Custom authentication (supported by Kafka)

Authorization:: Authorization controls the operations that are permitted on Kafka brokers by specific clients or users.
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Supported authorization mechanisms:
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* Simple authorization using ACL rules
* OAuth 2.0 authorization (if you are using OAuth 2.0 token-based authentication)
* Open Policy Agent (OPA) authorization (deprecated)
* Custom authorization (supported by Kafka)

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS):: Strimzi is designed to run on FIPS-enabled Kubernetes clusters to ensure data security and system interoperability.
For more information about the NIST validation program and validated modules, see link:https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program/validated-modules[Cryptographic Module Validation Program^] on the NIST website.