Biometric research & issues

Biometric research is related to the identification of humans based on their unique behavioural or physiological characteristics. Well known behavioural characteristics can be measured within voice, signature and gait recognition, whereas physiological characteristics comprise unique features of iris, face and fingerprint recognition. Within biometric authentication scenarios, those unique characteristics are taken as authentication credentials.

By using biometrics it is possible to confirm authentication in terms of who a person is rather than by what secret they know or remember. The link between the credential and its owner makes biometrics within authentication processes and cryptographic protocols a hot research topic. However, in contrast to tokens and knowledge, users leave traces of their biometrics everywhere. This makes it possible for anybody to collect, organize and analyse their personal data. In consideration of the volume of information being collected about individuals in our society, attacks on biometric databases present a particularly serious privacy threat. As soon as identical templates are used jointly in multiple databases, cross-matching becomes possible and so the privacy of users can no longer be guaranteed. These concerns are amplified by the fact that a user’s biometric data remains relatively stable in a life-time. Although technology can be used to invade privacy, it also can provide the most effective means to protect and safeguard someone’s identity.

The Australian National Crime Prevention Program [3] has highlighted that identity theft has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Identity theft normally occurs when an identity thief steals personal information of a person to obtain some benefit. The adversary thereby appears like the legitimate person by using the stolen personal information. The rise and spread of globalisation, the rapid development of new telecommunications technologies and Internet access have extended the reach of international fraudsters. This could be to open bank accounts, take out loans or conduct business illegally in the person’s name.

Identity theft can happen easily and is often not even known by the victim until the theft has transpired. The cost of identity fraud is increasing in Australia and internationally. In Australia the cost of this type of fraud [4] has been estimated at $1:1 billion per year not accounting for undetected identity fraud. One approach to reduce the threat of identity theft is the widespread adoption of biometric authentication within identification systems. Increasingly biometric technology is adopted for real-world use and its implementation credibly prevents sizable financial loss and privacy misuses. However, current state-of-the-art solutions still rely heavily on controlled conditions for user authentication and do not yet consider adequately privacy and security.

As biometric credentials are mostly private related data, their compromise can even make up more security and privacy danger then current identity fraud. Thus security and privacy protection within the storage, transaction and matching of biometric data themselves should never be left unappreciated; consequently these issues have been given priority within our systems through cryptographic frameworks.

More about Cryptography

More about "Biometric Cryptosystem"