public static Object verifyCredentials(String authenticatorMethod, Properties credentials,
      Properties securityProperties, InternalLogWriter logWriter,
      InternalLogWriter securityLogWriter, DistributedMember member,
      SecurityService securityService)
      throws AuthenticationRequiredException, AuthenticationFailedException, CacheClosedException {

    if (!AcceptorImpl.isAuthenticationRequired()) {
      return null;
    }
    return authenticate(authenticatorMethod, credentials, securityProperties, logWriter,
        securityLogWriter,
        member, securityService);
  }
this could return either a Subject or a Principal depending on if it's integrated security or
not
geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/tier/sockets/Handshake.java