Electronic authentication
Electronic authentication, commonly known as e-authentication, is the process of verifying a person’s identity to authorize access to specific data within computer systems. This method has gained significance as organizations increasingly rely on digital platforms for conducting transactions, ranging from simple library catalog access to sensitive financial operations. The primary goal of electronic authentication is to prevent unauthorized individuals from viewing or modifying data, which is crucial given the rise of computer fraud and identity theft.
To ensure effective authentication, individuals are typically required to provide personal information, such as their name, date of birth, or national identification number. This verification is managed by a registration authority that confirms the individual’s identity and issues a token, like a passcode, for future access. Additionally, e-authentication may incorporate techniques like CAPTCHAs, which differentiate human users from automated programs to bolster security. As technology evolves, so too will the methods and protections associated with electronic authentication, making it increasingly vital for both personal and corporate data security.
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Subject Terms
Electronic authentication
The process of authenticating a person’s identity and thus granting him or her authorization to access and alter data controlled by a particular computer system is called electronic authentication. Also known as e-authentication, this type of authentication has become increasingly important as most business and government data systems have become computer based. Typically, electronic authentication takes place when a person tries to make a particular transaction via computer. The transaction could be as simple as accessing a university library’s catalog or as sensitive as making corporate financial transfers.
Overview
The main purpose of electronic authentication is to make sure that anyone who is not authorized to view or change data will be unable to do so. This is especially important due to the prevalence of computer fraud and identity theft worldwide, typically for financial gain. The financial benefit to perpetrators of such fraud may be quickly realized, as is the case when transferring funds from someone else’s bank account. Alternatively, it may be long term and represent delayed financial benefit to perpetrators, such as when corporate secrets are electronically accessed and then parlayed into an advantage by a competitor. There are many reasons a person might attempt to gain illicit access to a computer system, making strong electronic authentication protections a necessity.
In order to make those protections successful, it is necessary for each individual’s real-world identity to be confirmed. This can be done in a number of ways. One is by securing a number of different pieces of personal information, such as name, place and date of birth, Social Security or similar national identification number, or, when applicable, employee identification number. The verification process may also involve inputting the individual’s credit card or cell phone number, both of which are usually connected to the person’s real-world billing address.
This e-authentication verification process is done through what is called a registration authority. The registration authority, or RA, authenticates a person’s identity through the means noted and then grants a token. The token typically takes the form of a passcode or some other easy-to-use identity verification method so that the person can use the computer system expediently each time.
In addition, electronic authentication can be coupled with a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart), lines of distorted text that sometimes appear when signing into an account. The person attempting to gain access must retype the text in the box provided. CAPTCHAs help to ensure that a human being is signing into an account and not an automated program, as such programs are unable to read the distorted text. This is particularly important since, unlike automated programs, human beings trying to illicitly access accounts are not physically capable of entering endless passcode combinations to find the right ones.
Electronic authentication has been used to protect homes as well as businesses. As both data encryption and methods of circumventing that encryption become more advanced, e-authentication techniques will become more secure as well.
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