User authentication methods in electronic systems – advantages and disadvantages

#User_authentication is the process of verifying the identity of whoever wants to access an electronic system or service such as e-mail, a personal computer secured with a password, a phone secured with a fingerprint , an electronic wallet account , etc. There are many methods that can be used to authenticate a user, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. There are three main types of user authentication: knowledge – based authentication , biometric -based authentication , and possession   -based authentication, which is sometimes called token . But what is the difference between these types?

Knowledge-based authentication (KBA) – anything you know – is the traditional and most common method of user authentication. It depends on something the user knows, such as the password , the personal identification number (PIN) , the security question , or the passphrase ,  which is a longer version of the #password using a sentence instead of a single word to ensure a greater length of the password. The main advantage of KBA is that it is easy to implement and use and is considered likable and attractive to users . It does not require any additional hardware or software, and it is enough for the programmer to add a few lines of programming to implement it. However, the main drawback of KBA is that it is vulnerable to various attacks, such as guessing  attack , phishing attack , keylogging or shoulder surfing  . Monitoring the movement of the entrance shoulder to guess the password, as well as social engineering, meaning trying to trick the user into revealing his password. Moreover, KBA can be ineffective and ineffective for users who have problems remembering passwords or answers to security questions, especially in the case of multiple accounts, where it is recommended not to use the same password within them because if the same password is used for all accounts, then Hacking one of them means that all of them have been hacked.

The second method of user authentication is Biometric-Based Authentication (BBA) , which is a more advanced and secure method of user authentication. It depends on something the user is, and it may be something physical in the human body, such as a fingerprint, face, iris, or palm print. It may be something behavioral, such as the voice, the pattern of typing on the keyboard, or the way you walk. The main advantage of BBA is that it is more accurate and reliable than KBA , and does not depend on the user’s memory or possession. However, the main drawback of BBA is that it can be expensive and complex to implement and maintain as it requires hardware to read fingerprints and requires the use of #artificial_intelligence algorithms to distinguish these fingerprints. One of the most important drawbacks of this method of authentication is privacy concerns as users have to share biometric data. Their data is shared with third parties (owners of applications and programs) who may misuse it or not protect it adequately. Furthermore, BBA can be affected by environmental factors, such as wounds, lighting, noise, or temperature .

Possession-based authentication (PBA)  is another method of user authentication that relies on something the user has, such as a smart card, token – a device that produces numbers for verification – a mobile phone or wearable device – such as a smart watch. The main advantage of PBA is that it provides a high degree of security in the event of protecting the device from loss or theft . But the main disadvantage of PBA is that it can be lost, stolen, damaged or copied by attackers . Moreover, PBA can be inconvenient for users who have to carry multiple devices or tokens for different accounts, and sometimes the use of PBA is related to other factors such as the quality of the network connection . If the phone is used for the authentication task, a message is supposed to arrive. The phone contains a verification code, and this code should be entered within a short period of time to increase security.

But we must note that many current applications that contain highly sensitive and financial information resort to providing an additional layer of security by using more than one authentication method at the same time. This method is called two-factor or multi-factor authentication. For example, a user may have to enter a password and scan a fingerprint to access the system. There are many #applications that use the #password and the code sent to the user’s phone to complete the #authentication_process. Of course, this form of authentication is better in terms of security, but at the same time it reduces the ease of access to #applications.

In conclusion, #userauthentication methods vary in level of security, convenience, and cost. Depending on the context and requirements of the system or service, one method may be more appropriate than another, so it is important to evaluate the features and risks involved in choosing the appropriate user authentication method .