Programming Authentication (Edexcel GCSE Computer Science)

Revision Note

Programming Authentication

What is Authentication?

  • Authentication is the process of ensuring that a system is secure by asking the user to complete tasks to prove they are an authorised user of the system

  • Authentication is done because bots can submit data in online forms

  • Authentication can be done in several ways, these include

    • Usernames and Passwords

    • CAPTCHA

  • Other methods that programmers can do to authenticate the user include

    • Allowing users to recover passwords via email links and SMS codes

    • Encrypting data

authentication-recaptcha

How can authentication be programmed?

  • Authentication of usernames and passwords can be programmed in several ways, including using lists, databases and encryption

  • Students are required to be able to program looking up usernames and passwords using a list/array

  • To do this successfully, a 2-dimensional list/array will be used

Python example

# Set a Boolean flag to track if the username is found

found = False

# List of usernames and corresponding passwords

usernames = [

["Dave", "1"],

["Steve", "2"],

["James", "3"],

["Alice", "4"],

["Stephanie", "5"]

]

# Ask the user to input their username

user = input("Enter your username: ")

# Loop through each username in the list

for i in range(len(usernames)):

# Check if the entered username matches any in the list

if user == usernames[i][0]:

found = True # Set the flag to indicate the username is found

password = input("Enter your password: ") # Ask for the password

# Check if the entered password matches the password associated with the username

if password == usernames[i][1]:

print("Welcome")

else:

print("Wrong password")

# Check if the username was not found

if not found:

print("User not found")

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James Woodhouse

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James graduated from the University of Sunderland with a degree in ICT and Computing education. He has over 14 years of experience both teaching and leading in Computer Science, specialising in teaching GCSE and A-level. James has held various leadership roles, including Head of Computer Science and coordinator positions for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. James has a keen interest in networking security and technologies aimed at preventing security breaches.

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