ALSO CALLED: Password Authentication, User Authentication, 3 Factor Authentication, Network Authentication, Carrier Access Codes, Remote Authentication, User ID, 2 Factor Authentication, Carrier Identification Codes, Access Authentication, Two-factor Authentication, Access Codes, 3-factor Authentication, and 2-factor Authentication
DEFINITION: Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact, who or what it is declared to be. In private and public computer networks (including the Internet), authentication is commonly done through the use of logon passwords. Knowledge of the password is assumed to guarantee that the user is authentic. Each user registers initially (or is registered by someone  … 
Definition continues below.

AUTHENTICATION DEFINITION (continued): …  else), using an assigned or self-declared password. On each subsequent use, the user must know and use the previously declared password. The weakness in this system for transactions that are significant (such as the exchange of money) is that passwords can often be stolen, accidentally revealed, or forgotten.

For this reason, Internet business and many other transactions require a more stringent authentication process. The use of digital certificates issued and verified by a Certificate Authority (CA) as part of a public key infrastructure is considered … 
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