Chapter 7. Authentication
“Who are you, Master?” he asked. “Eh, what?” said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. “Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless.” Lord of the Rings | ||
| --J.R.R. TOLKIEN | ||
Authentication is the process of proving one’s identity. This is distinct from the assertion of identity (known, reasonably enough, as identification) and from deciding what privileges accrue to that identity (authorization). While all three are important, authentication is the trickiest from the perspective of network security.
Authentication is based on one, two, or three factors:
Something you know
Something you have
Something you are
The first factor includes passwords, PINs, and the ...
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