Biometrics

Biometrics is the measurement of unique human traits. Biometrics are used in identity access management, access control, site metrics and analysis. They also are utilized by assessment consultants to identify possible security gaps and digital forensic specialists to resolve security breach cases. Since September 11, businesses, law enforcement, and government agencies are applying biometrics more and more often to establish user identity.

There are two systems of biometric operation, verification & identification.

Verification is a comparison of the user and a previously stored set of criteria. Typical means of verification are usernames, ID numbers, tokens, or scan cards.

Identification is the comparison of the unknown user's biometrics and a biometric database. A typical means of identification is personal identification questions.