Which two statements differentiate authentication from accounting?

Authentication is the process of verifying a user's identity, confirming "who you are" by challenging them for credentials (like a username and password) and validating those credentials against a database. This is its primary function. Accounting, on the other hand, tracks and records user activities, such as connection duration, data transferred, and services accessed, which can be used for auditing, billing, and resource utilization analysis. While accounting records user activity, authentication is the step that confirms the user's identity before any activity can occur. Therefore, options stating that only authentication supports user-activity audits, records connection duration, or provides billing information are incorrect, as these are functions of accounting.