Newbold's Biometric Dictionary

Asymmetric warfare - A term that describes a military situation in which two belligerents of unequal strength interact and take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This interaction often involves strategies and tactics outside the bounds of conventional warfare.

Asynchronous multimodality – systems that require that a user verify through more than one biometric in sequence. Asynchronous multimodal solutions are comprised of one, two, or three distinct authentication processes. A typical user interaction will consist of verification on finger scan, then face if finger is successful.

Attempt – The submission of a single set of biometric sample to a biometric system for identification or verification. Some biometric systems permit more than one attempt to identify or verify an individual. See also biometric sample, identification, verification.

Attribute authority - An entity, recognized by a Certificate Management Authority, as having the authority to verify the association of attributes to an identity.

Audit trail – In computer/network systems: Record of events (protocols, written documents, and other evidence), which can be used to trace the activities and usage of a system. Such material is crucial when tracking down successful attacks/attackers, determining how the attacks happened, and being able to use this evidence in a court of law.

Authentication – The process of establishing confidence in the truth of some claim. The claim could be any declarative statement for example: “This individual’s name is ‘Joseph K.’ ” or “This child is more than 5 feet tall.” In biometrics, “authentication” is sometimes used as a generic synonym for verification; the process of establishing the validity of the user attempting to gain access to a system. Primary authentication methods are: 1) Access; 2) passwords (something the user knows); 3) Access tokens (something the user owns); 4) Biometrics; 5) Geography (a workstation, for example); Security measure designed to establish the validity of a transmission, message, or originator, or a means of verifying an individual's authorization to receive specific categories of information; verifying identity. Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is actually who or what it asserts itself to be. In the context of an access control system, it refers to the process of identifying the individual or system requesting access, by checking the credentials presented against the information stored in the system; refers to either biometric process of verification or identification of an individual; the use of a biometric characteristic for the purpose verification or identification of an individual; the process of determining an individual's identity, either by verification or by identification. See also verification.