In some implementations, a device may receive a notification to authenticate a user associated with a user account of an application server. The device may send, to the user device, an authentication request that prompts the user to provide a contextual description of an operation associated with the user account. The device may receive, from the user device, an authentication response that includes a described characteristic of the operation that is associated with a parameter of the operation. The device may determine whether the authentication response is valid based on a comparison of the described characteristic of the operation and the parameter of the operation. The device may cause, based on a determination that the authentication response is valid, performance of the operation based on the parameter.