ptop computer at an airport containing a company's strategic business plans for the next five years. Such brazen theft is only one type of security problem facing organizations today. In addition, organizations must guard against corporate espionage, curious employees, employees intent on committing criminal acts (including embezzling), and the simple theft of equipment for resale.
In such an environment, security authentication is not organizational paranoia; it is a factor critical to the long-term success of the organization.
Security authentication seeks to ensure that the person using a particular piece of equipment, or accessing a particular piece of data, has the authority to do so. Security authentication is critical both to prevent external individuals from gaining access to internal information as well as preventing internal individuals from gaining unauthorized access to information. Security authentication can be accomplished with: Tokens (something the person has); Knowledge (something the person knows); Biometrics (something the person is) ("A Biometric" 1).
Token-based systems use a physical item to establish identity. Examples of tokens include: keys, ID cards, credit cards, passport, and driver's license. Token systems have a high level of acceptance by users, they are generally easy to use, and they are often an inexpensive way to provide security. However, Tokens can be lost or stolen, and copies can be made which provide access. Copying can be particularly problematic since the authorized user may not realize that someone has gained unauthorized access to the equipment in question until after information has been transferred or damage has been done. In addition, tokens can be difficult to set up for use with personal computers or laptops, and are often used for physical access to facilities rather than individual access to equipment (Baker 56).
Knowledge-based systems use something the individu...