Patent ID: 7467401

Claim:
A method for authenticating a user, comprising; obtaining authorized access to a plurality of data sources; identifying a plurality of fields in the plurality of data sources, wherein each field stores a value known to the user; for each identified field, generating at least one question whose correct answer is the value stored in the field; wherein none of the questions is password related; for each generated question, associating the generated question with the identified field and with the plurality of data sources; in response to receiving a request from the user to access at least one of a plurality of protected resources, presenting to the user at least one generated question, by: transmitting to the user a first generated question; in response to receiving an answer to the first generated question from the user; identifying the data source and the field associated with the first generated question; using an indication of the user's identity to query and retrieve from the data source the correct answer; comparing the user's answer with the retrieved correct answer; and discarding the retrieved correct answer after the compare; transmitting to the user a next generated question only if the user's answer is correct; and repeating the comparing and transmitting steps until each of the at least one generated questions presented has been answered correctly, wherein a number of generated questions the user must answer correctly is determined based on a level of security required to access the at least one protected resource; granting access to the at least one protected resource if the user correctly answers each of the at least one generated questions presented, whereby a user's identity is authenticated without requiring the user to provide a password or biometric data, and without requiring the user to enroll prior to access; denying access to the protected resource if the user incorrectly answers any of the at least one generated questions presented; and transmitting an alert message indicating that an attempt to access the protected resource by the user was unsuccessful.