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Authentication is the act of determining a user's identity. Computer security experts divide authentication into three spaces that prove identity: (1) What the user knowns, (2) What the user has, and (3) Who the user is. The securest systems rely on a combination of all three to provide the strongest level of authentication. What the user knows are things like usernames and passwords. This is a weaker form of authentication since that data can be given or stolen by somebody else, often without the user's knowledge. What the user has includes device like a smart card. In smart card authentication, the user has to possess the smart card and also know secret PIN. Who the user is can rely on technologies such as biometrics that use finger prints or retinal scans to determine identity.
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