Authentication

Authentication (from Greek: αὐθεντικός authentikos, 'real, genuine', from αὐθέντης authentes, 'author') is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicating a person or thing's identity, authentication is the process of verifying that identity. It might involve validating personal identity documents, verifying the authenticity of a website with a digital certificate, determining the age of an artifact by carbon dating, or ensuring that a product or document is not counterfeit.layered authentication approach relying on two or more authenticators to establish the identity of an originator or receiver of information. Authentication (from Greek: αὐθεντικός authentikos, 'real, genuine', from αὐθέντης authentes, 'author') is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicating a person or thing's identity, authentication is the process of verifying that identity. It might involve validating personal identity documents, verifying the authenticity of a website with a digital certificate, determining the age of an artifact by carbon dating, or ensuring that a product or document is not counterfeit. Authentication is relevant to multiple fields. In art, antiques and anthropology, a common problem is verifying that a given artifact was produced by a certain person or in a certain place or period of history. In computer science, verifying a user's identity is often required to allow access to confidential data or systems.