Authentication

• A. A method of proving your identity, ensuring only certain users can access a given system
• B. A backup encryption process
• C. A network monitoring technique
• D. A data backup procedure

Answer: (A)

Authentication is the process of proving who you are so that access to a system can be granted only to the right people. It involves checking credentials or attributes—like a password, a fingerprint, or a security token—to verify identity before entry. This matches the option because it describes the act of proving identity to ensure that only authorized users can access the system. Once identity is verified, the system can then decide what that user is allowed to do (authorization).

The other ideas focus on protecting data or monitoring rather than proving identity: encrypting backups protects the data in storage, monitoring the network looks for unusual activity, and backing up data is about creating copies for recovery.