Device driven user authentication

1. A computer-implemented method for authenticating a user, comprising:

obtaining, from a license server, a mapping of a data element representing a user identifier of a user to a device identifier for an electronic device of the user, wherein the mapping is created by the license server upon receiving a license key associated with the user identifier and the device identifier from the electronic device;

upon using the mapping to verify use of the electronic device by the user, enabling use of the electronic device in authenticating the user; and

when an authentication request comprising the user identifier for the user is subsequently received:

using the mapping to match the user identifier to the device identifier for the electronic device;

using a processor to provide a notification of the authentication request to the electronic device; and

upon receiving approval of the authentication request from the electronic device, authenticating the user without requiring an additional authentication factor from the user.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein verifying use of the electronic device by the user further comprises:

obtaining, from the electronic device, an email address representing the user identifier for the user; and

using a confirmation email to the email address to verify use of the electronic device by the user.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data element comprises a hash of the user identifier.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication request is associated with at least one of a request identifier, a service name, a network address, and a location.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a portable electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping is further created by the license server from a previous mapping of the license key to the data element.

7. A computer-implemented method for facilitating user authentication, comprising:

using a processor on an electronic device to:

verify use of the electronic device by a user by transmitting a license key and a device identifier for the electronic device to a license server, wherein the license server uses the license key and the device identifier to generate a mapping of a data element representing a user identifier of a user to the device identifier;

upon receiving a notification of an authentication request associated with the user, enable approval of the authentication request from the electronic device; and

upon detecting the approval of the authentication request, transmit the approval in a response to the authentication request, wherein the approval is used to authenticate the user without requiring an additional authentication factor from the user.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:

obtaining information associated with the authentication request prior to enabling approval of the authentication request, wherein enabling the approval of the authentication request comprises providing the information to the user.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the information comprises at least one of a request identifier, a service name, a network address, and a location.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein use of the electronic device by the user is further verified using

an email address representing the user identifier for the user.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the license server further uses a previous mapping of the license key to the data element to create the mapping.

12. A system for authenticating a user, comprising:

a license server configured to:

receive, from an electronic device, a license key associated with a user identifier for a user and a device identifier for the electronic device; and

verify use of the electronic device by the user by providing a mapping of a data element representing the user identifier to the device identifier; and

an authentication server configured to:

obtain an authentication request comprising the user identifier for the user;

use the mapping to match the user identifier to the device identifier;

provide a notification of the authentication request to the electronic device; and

upon receiving approval of the authentication request from the electronic device, authenticate the user without requiring an additional authentication factor from the user.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

the electronic device configured to:

enable the approval of the authentication request upon receiving the notification of the authentication request; and

upon detecting the approval of the authentication request on the electronic device, transmit the approval to the authentication server.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein use of the electronic device by the user is further verified using

an email address representing the user identifier for the user.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the authentication request is associated with at least one of a request identifier, a service name, a network address, and a location.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the license server is further configured to:

generate a previous mapping of the license key to the data element; and

after the license key and the device identifier are received from the electronic device, use the previous mapping, the license key, and the device identifier to create the mapping of the license key to the data element.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for authenticating a user, the method comprising:

obtaining, from a license server, a mapping of a data element representing a user identifier of a user to a device identifier for an electronic device of the user, wherein the mapping is created by the license server upon receiving a license key associated with the user identifier and the device identifier from the electronic device;

using the mapping to verify use of the electronic device by the user; and

when an authentication request comprising the user identifier for the user is subsequently received:

matching the user identifier to the device identifier for the electronic device;

using a processor to provide a notification of the authentication request to the electronic device; and

upon receiving approval of the authentication request from the electronic device, authenticating the user without requiring an additional authentication factor from the user.