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<p>Data security&nbsp;means protecting&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_data">digital data</a>, such as those in a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database">database</a>, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unauthorized">unauthorized</a>&nbsp;users,&nbsp;such as a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberattack">cyberattack</a>&nbsp;or a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_breach">data breach</a>. Data security measures are:</p>

<ol>
	<li><strong>Authentication</strong></li>
</ol>

<p>Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact, who or what it declares itself to be. Authentication technology provides access control for systems by checking to see if a user&rsquo;s credentials match the credentials in a database of authorized users or in a data authentication server.</p>

<p>Users are usually identified with a user ID, and authentication is accomplished when the user provides a credential, for example a password, that matches with that user ID. Most users are most familiar with using a password, which, as a piece of information that should be known only to the user, is called a knowledge&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/authentication-factor">authentication factor</a>. Other authentication factors, and how they are used for two-factor or&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/multifactor-authentication-MFA">multifactor authentication</a>&nbsp;(MFA), are described below.</p>

<p><strong>Authentication in cybersecurity</strong></p>

<p>Authentication is important because it enables organizations to keep their networks secure by permitting only authenticated users (or processes) to access its protected resources, which may include computer systems, networks, databases, websites and other network-based applications or services.</p>

<p>Once authenticated, a user or process is usually subjected to an&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/authorization">authorization</a>&nbsp;process as well, to determine whether the authenticated entity should be permitted access to a protected resource or system. A user can be authenticated but fail to be given access to a resource if that user was not granted permission to access it.</p>

<p>The terms authentication and authorization are often used interchangeably; while they may often be implemented together the two functions are distinct. While authentication is the process of validating the identity of a registered user before allowing access to the protected resource, authorization is the process of validating that the authenticated user has been granted permission to access the requested resources. The process by which access to those resources is restricted to a certain number of users is called&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/access-control">access control</a>. The authentication process always comes before the authorization process.</p>

<p><strong>How authentication is used</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/user-authentication">User authentication</a>&nbsp;occurs within most human-to-computer interactions outside of guest accounts, automatically logged-in accounts and&nbsp;<a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/kiosk">kiosk</a>&nbsp;computer systems. Generally, a user has to choose a username or user ID and provide a valid password to begin using a system. User authentication authorizes human-to-machine interactions in operating systems and applications, as well as both wired and wireless networks to enable access to networked and internet-connected systems, applications and resources.</p>

<p>Many companies use authentication to validate users who log into their websites. Without the right security measures, user data, such as credit and debit card numbers, as well as Social Security numbers, could get into the hands of cybercriminals.</p>

<p>Organizations also use authentication to control which users have access to corporate networks and resources, as well as to identify and control which machines and servers have access. Companies also use authentication to enable remote employees to securely access their applications and networks.</p>

<p>For enterprises and other large organizations, authentication may be accomplished using a&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/single-sign-on">single sign-on</a>&nbsp;(SSO) system, which grants access to multiple systems with a single set of login credentials.</p>

<p><strong>How authentication works</strong></p>

<p>During authentication, credentials provided by the user are compared to those on file in a database of authorized users&rsquo; information either on the local&nbsp;<a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/operating-system-OS">operating system</a>&nbsp;or through an&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/authentication-server">authentication server</a>. If the credentials match, and the authenticated entity is authorized to use the resource, the process is completed and the user is granted access. The permissions and folders returned define both the environment the user sees and the way he can interact with it, including hours of access and other rights such as the amount of&nbsp;<a href="https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/resource-allocation">resource</a>&nbsp;storage space.</p>

<p>Traditionally, authentication was accomplished by the systems or resources being accessed; for example, a server would authenticate users using its own password system, implemented locally, using&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/logon">login</a>&nbsp;IDs (user names) and passwords. Knowledge of the login credentials is assumed to guarantee that the user is authentic. Each user registers initially (or is registered by someone else, such as a systems administrator), using an assigned or self-declared password. On each subsequent use, the user must know and use the previously declared password.</p>

<p>However, the web&rsquo;s application protocols, HTTP and HTTPS, are&nbsp;<a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/stateless">stateless</a>, meaning that strict authentication would require end users reauthenticate each time they access a resource using HTTPS. Rather than burden end users with that process for each interaction over the web, protected systems often rely on token-based authentication, in which authentication is performed once at the start of a session. The authenticating system issues a signed authentication token to the end-user application, and that token is appended to every request from the client.</p>

<p>Entity authentication for systems and processes can be carried out using machine credentials that work like a user&rsquo;s ID and password, except the credentials are submitted automatically by the device in question. They may also use digital certificates that were issued and verified by a certificate authority as part of a public key infrastructure to authenticate an identity while exchanging information over the internet.</p>

<p><strong>Authentication factors</strong></p>

<p>Authenticating a user with a user ID and a password is usually considered the most basic type of authentication, and it depends on the user knowing two pieces of information: the user ID or username, and the password. Since this type of authentication relies on just one authentication factor, it is a type of&nbsp;<a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/single-factor-authentication-SFA">single-factor authentication</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/strong-authentication">Strong authentication</a>&nbsp;is a term that has not been formally defined, but usually is used to mean that the type of authentication being used is more reliable and resistant to attack; achieving that is generally acknowledged to require using at least two different types of authentication factors.</p>

<p>An authentication factor represents some piece of data or attribute that can be used to authenticate a user requesting access to a system. An old security adage has it that authentication factors can be &ldquo;something you know, something you have or something you are.&rdquo; These three factors correspond to the knowledge factor, the possession factor and the inherence factor. Additional factors have been proposed and put into use in recent years, with location serving in many cases as the fourth factor, and time serving as the fifth factor.</p>

<p><strong>Currently used authentication factors include:</strong></p>

<ol>
	<li>1<strong>.&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/knowledge-factor"><strong>Knowledge factor</strong></a>: &ldquo;Something you know.&rdquo; The knowledge factor may be any authentication credentials that consist of information that the user possesses, including a personal identification number (PIN), a user name, a password or the answer to a secret question.</li>
	<li>2<strong>.&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/possession-factor"><strong>Possession factor</strong></a>: &ldquo;Something you have.&rdquo; The possession factor may be any credential based on items that the user can own and carry with them, including hardware devices like a security token or a mobile phone used to accept a text message or to run an authentication app that can generate a one-time password or PIN.</li>
	<li>3<strong>.&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/inherence-factor"><strong>Inherence factor</strong></a>: &ldquo;Something you are.&rdquo; The inherence factor is typically based on some form of biometric identification, including finger or thumb prints, facial recognition, retina scan or any other form of biometric data.</li>
	<li><strong>Location factor</strong>: &ldquo;Where you are.&rdquo; While it may be less specific, the location factor is sometimes used as an adjunct to the other factors. Location can be determined to reasonable accuracy by devices equipped with&nbsp;<a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/GPS-tracking">GPS</a>, or with less accuracy by checking network routes. The location factor cannot usually stand on its own for authentication, but it can supplement the other factors by providing a means of ruling out some requests. For example, it can prevent an attacker located in a remote geographical area from posing as a user who normally logs in only from home or office in the organization&rsquo;s home country.</li>
	<li>5<strong>. Time factor</strong>: &ldquo;When you are authenticating.&rdquo; Like the location factor, the time factor is not sufficient on its own, but it can be a supplemental mechanism for weeding out attackers who attempt to access a resource at a time when that resource is not available to the authorized user. It may also be used together with location as well. For example, if the user was last authenticated at noon in the U.S., an attempt to authenticate from Asia one hour later would be rejected based on the combination of time and location.</li>
</ol>

<p>Despite being used as supplemental authentication factors, user location and current time by themselves are not sufficient, without at least one of the first three factors, to authenticate a user. However, the ubiquity of smartphones is helping to ease the burdens of multifactor authentication for many users. Most smartphones are equipped with GPS, enabling reasonable confidence in confirmation of the login location; smartphone&nbsp;<a href="https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/MAC-address">MAC</a>&nbsp;addresses may also be used to help authenticate a remote user, despite the fact that MAC addresses are relatively easy to spoof.</p>

<ol start="2">
	<li><strong>Password</strong></li>
</ol>

<p>A&nbsp;password&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word">word</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_(computer_science)">string</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_(computing)">characters</a>&nbsp;used for user&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentication">authentication</a>&nbsp;to prove identity or&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization">access approval</a>&nbsp;to gain access to a resource (example: an&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_code_(disambiguation)">access code</a>&nbsp;is a type of password), which is to be kept&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrecy">secret</a>&nbsp;from those not allowed access.</p>

<p>In modern times,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_(computing)">user names</a>&nbsp;and passwords are commonly used by people during a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logging_(computer_security)">log in</a>&nbsp;process that&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_control">controls access</a>&nbsp;to protected computer&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system">operating systems</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone">mobile phones</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_TV">cable TV</a>decoders,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine">automated teller machines</a>&nbsp;(ATMs), etc. A typical&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_user">computer user</a>&nbsp;has passwords for many purposes: logging into accounts, retrieving&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail">e-mail</a>, accessing applications, databases, networks, web sites, and even reading the morning newspaper online.</p>

<p>Despite the name, there is no need for passwords to be actual words; indeed passwords which are not actual words may be harder to guess, a desirable property. Some passwords are formed from multiple words and may more accurately be called a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passphrase">passphrase</a>. The terms&nbsp;<strong>passcode</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>passkey</strong>&nbsp;are sometimes used when the secret information is purely numeric, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identification_number">personal identification number</a>&nbsp;(PIN) commonly used for&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine">ATM</a>&nbsp;access. Passwords are generally short enough to be easily&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory">memorized</a>&nbsp;and typed.</p>

<p>Most organizations specify a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_policy">password policy</a>&nbsp;that sets requirements for the composition and usage of passwords, typically dictating minimum length, required categories (e.g. upper and lower case, numbers, and special characters), prohibited elements (e.g. own name, date of birth, address, telephone number). Some governments have national authentication frameworks&nbsp;that define requirements for user authentication to government services, including requirements for passwords.</p>

<ol start="3">
	<li><strong>Encryption</strong></li>
</ol>

<p>Encryption&nbsp;is the process of encoding a message or information in such a way that only authorized parties can access it and those who are not authorized cannot. Encryption does not itself prevent interference, but denies the intelligible content to a would-be interceptor. In an encryption scheme, the intended information or message, referred to as&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaintext">plaintext</a>, is encrypted using an encryption algorithm &ndash; a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher">cipher</a>&nbsp;&ndash; generating&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciphertext">ciphertext</a>&nbsp;that can be read only if decrypted. For technical reasons, an encryption scheme usually uses a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-random">pseudo-random</a>&nbsp;encryption key generated by an algorithm. It is in principle possible to decrypt the message without possessing the key, but, for a well-designed encryption scheme, considerable computational resources and skills are required. An authorized recipient can easily decrypt the message with the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(cryptography)">key</a>&nbsp;provided by the originator to recipients but not to unauthorized users.</p>

<p><strong>Types of encryption</strong></p>

<ol>
	<li><strong>Symmetric key / Private Key</strong></li>
</ol>

<p>In&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetric-key_algorithm">symmetric-key</a>&nbsp;schemes, the encryption and decryption keys are the same. Communicating parties must have the same key in order to achieve secure communication.</p>

<ol start="2">
	<li><strong>Public key</strong></li>
</ol>

<p>Illustration of how encryption is used within servers&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_encryption">Public key encryption</a>.</p>

<p>In&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_encryption">public-key encryption</a>&nbsp;schemes, the encryption key is published for anyone to use and encrypt messages. However, only the receiving party has access to the decryption key that enables messages to be read</p>
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