US Patent 7739744 Methods and systems for multifactor authentication

In various embodiments of the invention, techniques are presented for providing multifactor authentication. A first set of credentials are received, which are associated with a first principal, and at least one identifier also associated with the first principal is obtained from a second principal. Next, the first principal's knowledge of the at least one identifier is verified and an authentication credential is generated for the first principal. The authentication credential permits the first principal to access the second principal.