--- title: "Name the three means of user authentication." description: "Name the three means of user authentication." author: "Mukul Goenka" published: 2022-05-05 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/97145/name-the-three-means-of-user-authentication category: "troubleshooting" tags: ["troubleshooting", "network-security", "networking"] reading_time: 1 minute --- # Name the three means of user authentication. [Name the three](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/161438/name-the-three-main-core-web-vitals-metrics) means of [user authentication](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1503/user-authentication-with-all-social-account-under-one-account-in-node-js). ## Answers ### Answer by Hitesh Vohra - Three-factor authentication (3FA) is the use of identity-verifying credentials from **three different kinds of authentication elements,** usually knowledge, possession, and inherence. - Authentication factors are traditionally divided into three groups: - Things a [user](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/13001/multi-statement-table-valued-user-defined-function-in-sql-server) must know in order to log in are known as knowledge factors. This includes user names, IDs, **passwords, and personal identification numbers (PINs).** - Anything a user must have in his possession to log in is considered a possession factor. One-time password tokens (OTP tokens), key fobs, smartphones with OTP apps, employee ID cards, and [**SIM**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51015/why-does-my-iphone-6s-plus-keeps-saying-that-your-sim-sent-a-text-message-and-how-to-fix-it) cards all fall under this category. - Any biological qualities that the user possesses that are confirmed for log in are considered inheritance factors. Biometrics such as retina scans, iris scans, **fingerprint scans,** finger vein scans, facial recognition, voice recognition, hand geometry, and even earlobe geometry fall under this category. \ **Read More: [How do you deal with “Man In The Middle” attacks?](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/97143/how-do-you-deal-with-man-in-the-middle-attacks)** --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/97145/name-the-three-means-of-user-authentication Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.