Pin, Password, Passphrases, Tokens, smart cards, and biometric devices are all items that can be used for Authentication. When one of these item listed above in conjunction with a second factor to…

Question

Options

• AMulti-party authentication
• BTwo-factor authentication
• CMandatory authentication
• DDiscretionary authentication

• B
  95% (21)
• C
  5% (1)

Explanation

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is correct because it specifically describes the practice of combining something you know (PIN, password, passphrase), something you have (token, smart card), or something you are (biometric) with a second, independent factor - requiring both to succeed before granting access, which significantly hardens authentication against compromise.

Multi-party authentication (A) is incorrect - this refers to requiring multiple people to authenticate together (e.g., two officers launching a missile), not a single user presenting two credentials. Mandatory authentication (C) is not a standard authentication classification; it's a distractor borrowing language from "Mandatory Access Control" (MAC), which governs authorization, not authentication. Discretionary authentication (D) is similarly fabricated - it conflates terminology from "Discretionary Access Control" (DAC) and has no meaning in authentication frameworks.

Memory tip: Think "2FA = 2 factors from different categories" - knowing your PIN alone is 1-factor; pairing it with your fingerprint crosses into a second category, making it true two-factor authentication. The word "two" in the answer is your signal.

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