27-11-2012, 05:29 PM
Biometric Authentication
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Abstract
Advances in the field of Information Technology also make
Information Security an
inseparable part of it. In order to deal with security, Authentication plays an important role.
This paper presents a review on the biometric authentication techniques and some future
possibilities in this field. In biometrics, a human being needs to be identified based on some
characteristic physiological parameters. A wide variety of systems require reliable personal
recognition schemes to either confirm or determine the identity of an individual requesting
their services. The purpose of such schemes is to ensure that the rendered services are
accessed only by a legitimate user, and not anyone else. By using biometrics it is possible to
confirm or establish an individual’s identity. The position of biometrics in the current field of
Security has been depicted in this work. We have also outlined opinions about the usability of
biometric authentication systems, comparison between different techniques and their
advantages and disadvantages in this paper.
Introduction
Information security is concerned with the assurance of confidentiality, integrity and
availability of information in all forms. There are many tools and techniques that can support
the management of information security. But system based on biometric has evolved to
support some aspects of information security. Biometric authentication supports the facet of
identification, authentication and non-repudiation in information security.
Biometric authentication has grown in popularity as a way to provide personal
identification. Person’s identification is crucially significant in many application and the hike
in credit card fraud and identity theft in recent years indicate that this is an issue of major
concern in wider society. Individual passwords, pin identification or even token based
arrangement all have deficiencies that restrict their applicability in a widely-networked
Overview
Biometrics (ancient Greek: bios ="life", metron ="measure") refers to two very different
fields of study and application. The first, which is the older and is used in biological studies,
including forestry, is the collection, synthesis, analysis and management of quantitative data
on biological communities such as forests. Biometrics in reference to biological sciences has
been studied and applied for several generations and is somewhat simply viewed as
"biological statistics" [1].
Authentication is the act of establishing or confirming something (or someone) as
authentic, that is, that claims made by or about the thing are true. A short overview in this
field can be divided into three parts and they are Past, Present and Future.
society. Biometric is used to identify the identity of an input sample when compared to a
template, used in cases to identify specific people by certain characteristics. Possessionbased:
using one specific "token" such as a security tag or a card and knowledge-based: the
use of a code or password. Standard validation systems often use multiple inputs of samples
for sufficient validation, such as particular characteristics of the sample. This intends to
enhance security as multiple different samples are required such as security tags and codes
and sample dimensions. So, the advantage claimed by biometric authentication is that they
can establish an unbreakable one-to-one correspondence between an individual and a piece of
data.
Future
A biometric system can provide two functions. One of which is verification and the other
one is Authentication. So, the techniques used for biometric authentication has to be stringent
enough that they can employ both these functionalities simultaneously. Currently, cognitive
biometrics systems are being developed to use brain response to odor stimuli, facial
perception and mental performance for search at ports and high security areas. Other
biometric strategies are being developed such as those based on gait (way of walking), retina,
Hand veins, ear canal, facial thermogram, DNA, odor and scent and palm prints. In the near
future, these biometric techniques can be the solution for the current threats in world of
information security.
Of late after a thorough research it can be concluded that approaches made for
simultaneous authentication and verification is most promising for iris, finger print and palm
vain policies. But whatever the method we choose, main constraint will be its performance in
real life situation. So, application of Artificial System can be a solution for these cases. We
have given emphasis on the Iris recognition. According to us, after detection of an iris pattern,
the distance between pupil and the iris boundary can be computed. This metric can be used
for the recognition purposes because this feature remains unique for each and every
individual. Again, an artificial system can be designed which will update the stored metric as
the proposed feature may vary for a particular person after certain time period.
After doing the manual analysis of the above discussed method, we have got a satisfactory
result. Due to the dynamic modification of the proposed metric, the rejection ration for a same
person reduces by a lot. The work is being carried out to make the system viable.
Finger Print Technology
A fingerprint is an impression of the friction ridges of all or any part of the finger. A
friction ridge is a raised portion of the on the palmar (palm) or digits (fingers and toes) or
plantar (sole) skin, consisting of one or more connected ridge units of friction ridge skin.
These ridges are sometimes known as "dermal ridges" or "dermal ". The traditional method
uses the ink to get the finger print onto a piece of paper. This piece of paper is then scanned
using a traditional scanner. Now in modern approach, live finger print readers are used .These
are based on optical, thermal, silicon or ultrasonic principles [22, 23, 27]. It is the oldest of all
the biometric techniques. Optical finger print reader is the most common at present. They are
based on reflection changes at the spots where finger papilar lines touch the reader surface.
All the optical fingerprint readers comprise of the source of light, the light sensor and a
special reflection surface that changes the reflection according to the pressure. Some of the
readers are fitted out with the processing and memory chips as well.
Hand Geometry Technology
It is based on the fact that nearly every person’s hand is shaped differently and that the
shape of a person’s hand does not change after certain age. These techniques include the
estimation of length, width, thickness and surface area of the hand. Various method are used
to measure the hands- Mechanical or optical principle [8, 20].