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Home / Glossary / LDAP

Glossary · Protocol

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

In plain language

A standard way for software to look people up in a company directory and check their login.

The metaphor

Like a switchboard operator with the staff directory: software asks whether Sam is a valid user and which team he is on.

Going deeper

How it works

It reads from a directory such as Active Directory.
Printers, firewalls and old apps use it to check logins.
Connections should be encrypted.
Cloud apps usually use newer methods instead.

How WILDCARD handles it

Network covers on-premises Active Directory authentication, which this protocol often reads from.

In practice

A firm links its firewall's VPN login to its directory.
A scanner looks up staff email addresses for scan-to-email.
An old app asks for the directory server name.

A question owners ask

Do I still need it?

Only if you have an on-site directory. Most cloud-first offices rely on Microsoft 365 or Google accounts.

Where WILDCARD handles this

Network

Firewall managed and monitored
Switches kept current
On-prem Active Directory auth

Start with Network

Related terms

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