Which of the following are example of something you have authentication controls?

What is multi-factor authentication?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a method of logon verification where at least two different factors of proof are required. MFA is also referred to as 2FA, which stands for two-factor authentication. MFA helps keep protect your data (email, financial accounts, health records, etc.) or assets by adding an extra layer of security.

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What is multi-factor authentication?
What are the types of multi-factor authentication?
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Which of the following is the most common form of authentication?
Which of the following is an example of a logical control?
Which of the following is the best description of two
What term is used for a means of authentication based on what the users have?

What are the types of multi-factor authentication?

There are generally three recognized types of authentication factors:

Type 1 – Something You Know – includes passwords, PINs, combinations, code words, or secret handshakes. Anything that you can remember and then type, say, do, perform, or otherwise recall when needed falls into this category.
Type 2 – Something You Have – includes all items that are physical objects, such as keys, smart phones, smart cards, USB drives, and token devices. (A token device produces a time-based PIN or can compute a response from a challenge number issued by the server.).
Type 3 – Something You Are – includes any part of the human body that can be offered for verification, such as fingerprints, palm scanning, facial recognition, retina scans, iris scans, and voice verification.

By combining two or three factors from these three categories, a multi-factor authentication is crafted. Multi-factor authentication is preferred, as it is much more difficult for an intruder to overcome. With just a password, an attacker only has to have a single attack skill and wage a single successful attack to impersonate the victim. With multi-factor authentication, the attack must have multiple attack skills and wage multiple successful attacks simultaneously in order to impersonate the victim. This is extremely difficult and, thus, a more resilient logon solution.

Most online services and accounts offer true multi-factor authentication, and the number is growing. One excellent example of a multi-factor authentication supporting online service is that of PayPal. They currently offer at least two different multi-factor options. One option involves a credit card-sized device that produces on-demand a one-time-use six-digit PIN. The second option sends an SMS text message to your cell phone with a six-digit PIN. In either case, the PIN is used alongside your name and password credentials to gain access to your PayPal account.

Excerpted from the Global Knowledge white paper Multi-Step Authentication and Why Should I Use It.

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An authentication factor is a category of credential that is intended to verify, sometimes in combination with other factors, that an entity involved in some kind of communication or requesting access to some system is who, or what, they are declared to be.

Each category is considered a factor. For example, user names and passwords are both the same type of factor, so their combined use is single-factor authentication (SFA), despite the fact that there are two elements involved.

Types of authentication factors:
There are three categories of authentication factors. These are generally broken down as:

Knowledge factors: A knowledge factor is something you know, such as a user name and password.
Possession factors: A possession factor is something you have, such as a smart card or a security token.
Inherence factors: An inherence factor is something you are, an inherent biometric characteristic such as a fingerprint, voice or iris pattern.

Single-factor authentication is based on only one category. The most common SFA method is a user name and password combination (something you know), although biometric authentication is becoming more common. The security of SFA relies to some extent upon the diligence of users. Best practices for SFA include selecting strong passwords and refraining from automatic or social logins. Nevertheless, for any system or network that contains sensitive data, it's important to add additional authentication factors. Multifactor authentication (MFA) involves two or more independent credentials for more secure transactions.

Two-factor authentication uses any two the three categories. Examples include using a security token, such as a key fob or smart card, in conjunction with a PIN (personal identification number) or swiping a card before scanning your fingerprint.

Three-factor authentication requires the use of credentials from each of the three categories. One example would be entering a PIN (something you know) to unlock your smartphone (something you have) and then supplying an iris scan to finalize authentication.

This was last updated in December 2014

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Which of the following is the most common form of authentication?

Passwords are the most common form of authentication.

Which of the following is an example of a logical control?

Examples of logical controls are passwords, network firewalls, access control lists and data encryption.

Which of the following is the best description of two

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security system that requires two separate, distinct forms of identification in order to access something. The first factor is a password and the second commonly includes a text with a code sent to your smartphone, or biometrics using your fingerprint, face, or retina.

What term is used for a means of authentication based on what the users have?

Multifactor authentication combines two or more independent credentials: what the user knows, such as a password; what the user has, such as a security token; and what the user is, by using biometric verification methods.