Patent ID: 7665122

Claim:
An authentication apparatus having a plurality of authentication mechanisms, characterized by comprising: an input unit adapted to input authentication information of an object of authentication, said authentication information having been already authenticated by a first mechanism that is in use; a determination unit adapted to determine whether the authentication information that has been input by said input unit corresponds to an object of authentication that has an authority to change over the first authentication mechanism in use to another authentication mechanism; a display control unit adapted to display a list of the plurality of authentication mechanisms if it has been determined by said determination unit that the authentication information that has been input corresponds to the object of authentication that has the authority to make the changeover; a registration unit adapted to register, as an effective authentication mechanism, a second authentication mechanism that has been selected from the list displayed by said display control unit; a verification unit adapted to verify that authentication of the object of authentication in the second authentication mechanism succeeds; and a changeover control unit adapted to control management of the object of authentication so that successful authentication of the object of authentication in the second authentication mechanism is verified before management is changed over from the first authentication mechanism to the second authentication mechanism, wherein the first authentication mechanism and the second authentication mechanism are managed by a common staff-up unit, wherein changeover of management of the object of authentication, which has been successfully authenticated in the first authentication mechanism, from the first authentication mechanism to the second authentication mechanism is initiated in response to selection of the second authentication mechanism as an effective authentication mechanism, wherein the object of authentication continues to be in an authenticated state in the first authentication mechanism, and is not released from management under the first authentication mechanism, until successful authentication in the second authentication mechanism is verified, wherein said input unit reads a card on which authentication information of an object of authentication has been recorded and inputs said authentication information, and wherein the changeover control unit is a central processing unit.