Glossary
Continuous Authentication
Continuous authentication verifies identity on an ongoing, passive basis throughout a session, rather than relying on a single discrete check performed once at login and then trusted implicitly for however long the session happens to continue afterward. Instead of one moment of verification standing in for an entire session's legitimacy, the system keeps gathering signal throughout, watching for anything that suggests the person actually present has changed partway through.
This directly addresses a specific gap ordinary login-time authentication leaves open: a session hijacked or taken over partway through — a device left unlocked and unattended, a stolen active session — passes the original login check perfectly well, because that check already happened before the takeover occurred. Continuous authentication catches exactly this case by continuing to verify identity throughout the session's actual lifetime, not only at its start.