A username is a name that is given to a user on a computer or computer network. It can be a phrase, word, combination of a number of characters, which is also referred to as login ID, an account name, user name, user ID. It uniquely identifies and gains access to a computing system, software, a website that needs user authentication. For instance, a computer system may have many accounts; each account will have a different username.
The username is commonly created with the combination of a user’s full name and alias. Generally, it means a username is a short form of a user’s full name and surname. For example, the name of a user name is John Smith; he may have the username site, which may be created with the combination of the first four letters of the alias or last name followed by the first letter of the first name. In order to customize their settings or set up an online account, many websites give permission to users to choose a username. For case, a username may be given by a bank to access your banking information.
Also, on the web, in terms of messages to a particular message board, you may require to select a username. Furthermore, in order to use the service, email services like Hotmail need users to select a username or login ID. Usernames play an important role in order to use online service and same computer with the personal files and settings. For example, a username allows users to maintain their personal identification when they used any website.
Almost a username always has a password, which is often required for users to log in to the website or other related services. The combination of username/password is referred to as a login. In case you need to enter the correct username and password to access your email account on the web so that you can access your messages.
Once you have logged into your email account, you may see your username on the display screen; however, your password will be secret. For multiple websites, users can create secure accounts with the help of keeping their passwords private. Most usernames do not allow for space, and they can only have letters and numbers. When you create an email account, it needs a username and password in which your username will be the part before the “@.”
Username is commonly used in IT and IT-enabled systems that have a multi-user access mechanism, this is why because it is widely adapted authentication and authorization technique and better security feature to keep secure your information. A username serves as authentication as it identifies a user and password. In most situations, a user creates the username and sets the password accordingly, and the length of this username is between six and 14 characters.
Moreover, the authorization is completely dependent upon the correct input of username and password; therefore, if a username is discovered by a hacker, it cannot pose serious threats alone and can be used for unauthorize purpose by the hacker or a person with malicious intent.