Lecture 3: User authentication

Question 1

List some factors that can be used for user authentication

Answer 1

• Passwords
• Biometrics
• Device/hardware
• Location

Question 2

List some system-side factors that affect the strength of password authentication

Answer 2

• System protection (access control, intrusion detection)
• Hashing, salts
• Rate limiting
• Monitoring
• Strength indication

Question 3

List some tools and methods used to attack password authentication

Answer 3

• Offline dictionary
• Guessing
• Popular password lists
• Workstation hijacking
• Password re-use

Question 4

List some examples of biometric passwords

Answer 4

• Fingerprints
• Facial recognition
• Iris

Question 5

List some examples of components used for password authentication

Answer 5

• Sensor
• Extractor
• Template DB

Question 6

What does “verification” and “identification” mean, in the context of password authentication?

Answer 6

Verification: True/False, depending on if a match is found in DB
Identification: ID, lookup the sensing data in DB, return person that matches

Question 7

What are some problems with password authentication?

Answer 7

• False positives and negatives
• Revocation
• Requires equipment