A biometric system uses unique physical or behavioral traits, such as a face, fingerprint, iris pattern, voice, or typing rhythm, to verify or identify a person. It usually works by capturing a sample, converting it into a template, and comparing that template against stored records or a live reference.
In cybersecurity, biometric systems matter because they often protect high-value accounts, facilities, and devices. They can improve usability, but they also create new risks: stolen biometric templates cannot be changed like passwords, and poor sensor quality can cause false accepts or false rejects. Attackers may try spoofing with photos, masks, replayed voice samples, or template theft. Defenders reduce risk with liveness detection, strong access control, encryption, audit trails, and retention limits. In practice, a biometric system is only as trustworthy as the controls around enrollment, storage, matching, and human review.