> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.condense.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Securing Kafka

## Overview

Kafka in Condense provides multiple layers of security to protect data in transit, authenticate clients, and control access to Kafka resources. Security is implemented using industry-standard encryption, authentication, and authorization mechanisms while simplifying administration through the Condense platform.

## Encryption

Kafka in Condense supports Transport Layer Security (TLS), a protocol for encrypted communication.

Communication is always encrypted between Kafka components.

## 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.

### **Supported authentication mechanisms**

* 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.In addition to Kafka's native authorization mechanisms, Condense provides centralized permission management through **Users & Role Management** and **ACL Management** under **Kafka Administration**. These capabilities simplify the administration of Kafka resource permissions through the Condense portal.

### **Supported authorization mechanisms**

* Simple authorization using ACL rules
* OAuth 2.0 authorization (if you are using OAuth 2.0 token-based authentication)
* Open Policy Agent (OPA) authorization
* Custom authorization (supported by Kafka)

## **Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)**

Kafka in Condense can run on FIPS-enabled Kubernetes clusters to ensure data security and system interoperability if the native Kubernetes service of the cloud provider supports it.

## Related Documentation

* Users & Role Management
* ACL Management
* Kafka Topics
* Consumer Groups
* Schema Registry