Username

What Does Username Mean?

A username is a a word, phrase, number or combination of characters that uniquely identifies a user on software, a website, a computer or any computing device or related service that requires user authentication.

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A username is a distinctive alphabetical and numerical set of characters used to identify and gain access to a computing system.

A username is also known as a login ID.

Techopedia Explains Username

Username is a common security feature and widely adapted authentication and authorization technique used in IT and IT-enabled systems that have a multi-user access mechanism. A username is mostly used in combination with a password; the username identifies a user and password serves as authentication.

In most scenarios, a username is created by the user and is between six and 14 characters in length. Although they are an integral part of the information security mechanism, a username alone cannot pose serious threats if it is discovered by a hacker or a person with malicious intent, as the authorization depends on the correct input of username and password.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…