Authenticator centralization and protection based on authenticator type and authentication policy

Provided is a method for authenticating a user communicating with an enterprise via a network. The method includes receiving, via the network, authenticators for a user from a first user device associated with the user, and storing the received authenticators. A first authenticator from the stored authenticators is selected to be used for authenticating the user based on an authentication policy received from the enterprise. An authentication request is transmitted to a user device requesting the first authenticator and the user is authentication by comparing the received authenticator with the stored first authenticator.