About Axxess Biometrics
Axxess Biometrics was created to meet the rising need for data security in the financial and health care industry. Providing employee identification and verification through biometrics and password management through Active Directory, we provide a complete and cost effective enterprise solution. The founding members are former biometric industry professionals, each working in different areas of the sector. Confident in their own vision, the team at Axxess Biometrics decided that the time was right for a new venture that more fully addressed the needs of the market. The company is singularly focused on creating the best solutions, and broad in its ability to grow into new areas. As new biometric devices become available, our Managed Axxess(tm) product is designed to easily incorporate these emerging technologies. While other companies are focused on the single user environment, we are focused on the enterprise.
About Biometrics
Biometrics Overview
Biometrics is the use of physiological or behavioral characteristics to determine or verify an individual’s identity.
Description
Physiological biometrics are based on data derived from direct measurements of a part of the human body. Fingerprints, iris-scans, retina-scans, hand geometry, and facial recognition are all leading physiological biometrics.
Behavioral characteristics are based on an action taken by a person. Behavioral biometrics, in turn, are based on measurements and data derived from an action, and indirectly measure characteristics of the human body. Voice recognition, keystroke-scans, and signature-scans are leading behavioral biometric technologies. One of the defining characteristics of a behavioral biometric is the incorporation of time as a metric - the measured behavior has a beginning, middle and end.
A key point is that while behavioral biometrics are based on an individual’s actions, those actions are in turn influenced by physiological attributes such as the size of a person’s hand (signature-scan) or the shape of their vocal chords (voice recognition).
Fingerprint Basics
Fingerprints are one of those bizarre twists of nature. Human beings happen to have built-in, easily accessible identity cards. You have a unique design, which represents you alone, literally at your fingertips. The pattern of ridges and "valleys" on fingers form through a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
The genetic code in DNA gives general orders on the way skin should form in a developing fetus, but the specific way it forms is a result of random events. The exact position of the fetus in the womb at a particular moment and the exact composition and density of surrounding amniotic fluid decides how every individual ridge will form. So, in addition to the countless things that go into deciding your genetic make-up in the first place, there are innumerable environmental factors influencing the formation of the fingers. Just like the weather conditions that form clouds or the coastline of a beach, the entire development process is so chaotic that, in the entire course of human history, there is virtually no chance of the same exact pattern forming twice. Consequently, fingerprints are a unique marker for a person, even an identical twin. And while two prints may look basically the same at a glance, a trained investigator or an advanced piece of software can pick out clear, defined differences.
Biometrics in terms of technology, is the use of these unique physical identity markers as means of personal identification. Finger prints being the most common form, are not the only form. Other biometrics include retinal, iris, face and hand. These other forms are poised to be used with more frequency in the future as the technology becomes more cost effective and readily available.
