What is the difference between authentication and authorization in Laravel?

 Authentication answers: "Who are you?"

Authorization answers: "Are you allowed to perform this action?"

Authentication may establish the current user through a session, token, or another mechanism.

Authorization can use gates or policies.

Example:
if ($user->can('update', $post)) {
// allow update
}

Scenario:
A support employee may be authenticated but still be forbidden from deleting financial records. Authentication identifies the employee; authorization determines whether deletion is permitted.

Interview tip:
Do not describe authentication and authorization as the same thing. This distinction is fundamental to secure application design.