Biometrics

Biometric recognition can be described as automated methods to accurately recognize individuals based on distinguishing physiological and/or behavioral traits. This article spotlights biometric recognition as a key form of authentication, one which is increasingly used in a wide range of applications made possible by advanced pattern recognition algorithms applied through powerful ICT.

Biometric technology is the physical measurement and encoding of biological or behavioral characteristics (i.e. fingerprint, voice, signature or keyboard dynamics). Both the biological characteristics and/or the behavioral traits must be unique to an individual and able to be repeatedly acquired by an electronic device. As a challenge and response method, a biometric authentication is a pattern recognition system that establishes a person’s identity by comparing their binary code of uniquely specific biological or behavioral characteristic (trait) to the binary code of certain stored data. Once a live biometric sample has been converted into a binary code, it is compared to the reference sample or template (previously stored during the enrollment phase) to determine that the claim of identity is genuine.