Abstract: A web-based authentication system and method provides centralized management of authentication data for web-based applications. Under typical operation of the system, a user need only remember to authenticate data to the system rather than have to remember various sets of authentication data for numerous web-based applications that the user may authenticate through the system. A user may be authenticated before the user uses the system. Initially, the user has to enter authentication data for various web-based applications that the user wants the system to manage. Upon the user's selection, the system then authenticates to the desired web-based application using the first set of authentication data stored in the system. Since the first set of authentication data is stored on the system, the user does not have to provide the first set of authentication data to authenticate to the web-based application.