What is Crossover Error Rate CER?

Understanding Crossover Error Rate CER

This is achieved when the type I and type II are equal. In biometric systems, CER is the point where the false acceptance rate FAR equals the false rejection rate FRR, representing an optimal balance between security preventing unauthorized access and usability allowing legitimate access. CER helps in comparing the overall accuracy of different biometric systems. Biometric system performance is addressed in standards like ISO IEC 19795 and NIST SP 800-76. Organizations use CER as a metric when selecting and configuring biometric authentication systems for appropriate security-usability balance. For example, a high-security facility might configure a fingerprint system at a lower threshold than the CER for higher security at the cost of occasional legitimate rejections, while a consumer device might use a higher threshold than the CER for convenience. Related terms: False Acceptance Rate FAR, False Rejection Rate FRR, Biometric authentication, Equal Error Rate EER, Receiver Operating Characteristic ROC, Biometric performance.