from Greek: αὐθεντικός authentikos, "real, genuine," from αὐθέντης authentes, "author"
The act of confirming the truth of an attribute claimed true by an entity.
In contrast with identification which refers to the act of stating a person or thing's identity, authentication is the process of actually confirming that identity.
3 types.
1.
Accepting proof of identity given by a credible person or entity.
a.k.a. Trust
2.
Comparing the attributes of the object itself to what is known about objects of that origin.
3.
Documentation or other external affirmations.
3 factors.
knowledge factors: Something the user knows
password, pass phrase, personal identification number (PIN), challenge response (security question)
ownership factors: Something the user has
wrist band, ID card, security token, hardware token, software token
inherence factors: Something the user is or does
fingerprint, retinal pattern, DNA sequence, signature, face, voice, bio-electric signals or other biometric identifiers
Two-factor, or multiple-factor
card and PIN, password and mobile phone etc.
If successful, we know that you are who you say you are.
knowing this, we could say what you are allowed to do...