isr.co.ro : glossary Authentication The process of establishing whether a user, remote computer, or message is the one he, she, or it claims to be. Normally, you authenticate your identity to the network with a name and password. Authenticating the identify of remote computers has been a major technical challenge in network design. Passwords are considered a good solution for user identification, but only if account holders follow recommended practices. Various studies have shown most do not, making cracking passwords a regular way of circumventing this type of protection. Following the terminology used in espionage, fooling the authentication process is known as spoofing.