Mastering Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0

11.1. What Are Users, Groups, and Permissions?

When you start looking at security, chances are good that you start with the basics: who is allowed to access SharePoint resources, what resources are they allowed to see, what resources are they allowed to use, and how are they allowed to use them.

The people who are allowed access to SharePoint are commonly referred to as users. To add user accounts, SharePoint utilizes the services of an authentication provider, such as Windows integrated Authentication (which on a domain uses Active Directory, on a stand-alone server it is that server's security account manager database). Active Directory (AD) stores its own user accounts, and people use it to log into their workstations to access network resources ...