# Network Identity Manager Concepts: Credential

In Network Identity Manager, a credential is any digital object that can be used by a network authentication protocol to assert a specific identity.

As of this writing, Network Identity Manager supports four different types of credentials:

- Kerberos v5 tickets
- Kerberos v4 tickets
- AFS tokens
- X.509 certificates issued by a Kerberized Certificate Authority

Of these, only Kerberos v5 initial ticket granting tickets can be used as an identity provider credential.