Types of Biometrics

There are basically two types of biometrics:
1. Behavioral biometrics
2. Physical biometrics

Behavioral biometric definition : Behavioral biometrics basically measures the characteristics which are acquired naturally over a time. It is generally used for verification.

Examples of behavioral biometrics include:

* Speaker Recognition - analyzing vocal behavior
* Signature - analyzing signature dynamics
* Keystroke - measuring the time spacing of typed words

Physical biometric definition : Physical biometrics measures the inherent physical characteristics on an individual. It can be used for either identification or verification.

Examples of physical biometrics include:

* Bertillonage - measuring body lengths (no longer used)
* Fingerprint - analyzing fingertip patterns
* Facial Recognition - measuring facial characteristics
* Hand Geometry - measuring the shape of the hand
* Iris Scan - analyzing features of colored ring of the eye
* Retinal Scan - analyzing blood vessels in the eye
* Vascular Patterns - analyzing vein patterns
* DNA - analyzing genetic makeup

A comparison of biometrics

Let us compare the several biometrics with other seven categories:

• Universality describes how common a biometric is found in each individual.
• Uniqueness is how well the biometric separates one individual from another.
• Permanence measures how well a biometric resists aging.
• Collectability explains how easy it is to acquire a biometric for measurement.
• Performance indicates the accuracy, speed, and robustness of the system capturing the biometric.
• Acceptability indicates the degree of approval of a technology by the public in everyday life.
• Circumvention is how easy it is to fool the authentication system.

Yun ranks each biometric based on the categories as being either low, medium, or high. A low ranking indicates poor performance in the evaluation criterion whereas a high ranking indicates a very good performance.