Authentication & Authorization with Clerk Why We Use Clerk The Authentication Problem Building secure authentication from scratch requires: - Password hashing (bcrypt/Argon2 with proper salts) - Session management (secure cookies, expiration, renewal) - Password reset flows (secure token generation, email verification) - Account lockout (prevent brute force) - MFA support (TOTP, SMS, authenticator apps) - Social login (OAuth flows for Google, GitHub, etc.) - User database sync - Security best practices for all of the above Time to implement securely: 2-4 weeks for experienced developers For v…