Identification

The process of verifying the identity of a user, process, or device, usually as a prerequisite for granting access to resources in an IT system.

A task where the biometric system searches a database for a reference matching a submitted biometric sample, and if found, returns a corresponding identity. A biometric is collected and compared to all the references in a database. Identification is "closed-set" if the person is known to exist in the database. In "open-set" identification, sometimes referred to as a "watchlist," the person is not guaranteed to exist in the database. The system must determine whether the person is in the database, then return the identity. See also closed-set identification, open-set identification, verification, watchlist.

[The] process an information system (IS) uses to recognize an entity. [INFOSEC-99]