An Introduction to Authentication for Applications

With the increasing trends in cyberattacks, phishing and social engineering, online services, applications, devices and APIs need to authenticate their users properly. The perception is that authentication other than username and password is an inconvenience and a cost factor. However, using modern digital identity technologies with properly deployed authentication can increase conversion and trust, improve retention, save cost and take the user experience to a new level.

In this whitepaper, you will learn:

• The popular authentication categories available to developers
• The relevance of the term “Level of Assurance” and “Authenticator Assurance Level” and how the categories map to these evaluation criteria
• Which authentication category could be useful for your new service
• Why Step-Up authentication is important to achieve excellent user experience

This whitepaper is an ideal introduction on authentication categories and their suitability for different business requirements. Recommended reading to anyone who wants to get more familiar with online authentication.