In a federated environment, who is the relying party, and what does it do?

In a federated environment, the relying party refers to the service provider that relies on an identity provider to authenticate users. The primary function of the relying party is to consume the tokens generated by the identity provider, which contain the necessary assertions about the user’s identity. This allows the service provider to grant access to resources or services based on the authenticated identity without having to manage full user credentials directly.

When a user attempts to access a resource from the service provider, they are redirected to the identity provider for authentication. Once authenticated, the identity provider issues a security token that contains information about the user. The relying party then consumes this token to verify the user's identity and provide access based on the received information, establishing a trust relationship between the identity provider and the relying party.

This framework provides a more streamlined approach to identity management and enhances security by consolidating authentication responsibilities with the identity provider rather than distributing them across multiple service providers.