Authentication mechanisms provide the cornerstone for security for many distributed systems, especially for increasingly popular online applications. For decades, widely used, traditional authentication methods included passwords and PINs that are now inadequate to protect online users and organizations from ever more sophisticated attacks. This study proposes an improvement to traditional authentication mechanisms. The solution introduced here includes a one-time-password (OTP) and incorporates the concept of multiple levels and multiple channels – features that are much more successful than traditional authentication mechanisms in protecting users' online accounts from being compromised.

Authentication mechanisms provide the cornerstone for security for many distributed systems, especially for increasingly popular online applications. For decades, widely used, traditional authentication methods included passwords and PINs that are now inadequate to protect online users and organi...