Secure Biometrics: Concepts, Authentication Architectures and Challenges

TL;DR

This paper provides an overview of secure biometric methods that protect privacy and security in biometric authentication systems, addressing challenges posed by biometric variability and irreversibility.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of secure biometrics and discusses emerging techniques for biometric template protection to enhance privacy and security.

Findings

Highlights privacy and security challenges in biometric systems

Reviews emerging biometric template protection methods

Emphasizes importance of addressing biometric variability

Abstract

BIOMETRICS are an important and widely used class of methods for identity verification and access control. Biometrics are attractive because they are inherent properties of an individual. They need not be remembered like passwords, and are not easily lost or forged like identifying documents. At the same time, bio- metrics are fundamentally noisy and irreplaceable. There are always slight variations among the measurements of a given biometric, and, unlike passwords or identification numbers, biometrics are derived from physical characteristics that cannot easily be changed. The proliferation of biometric usage raises critical privacy and security concerns that, due to the noisy nature of biometrics, cannot be addressed using standard cryptographic methods. In this article we present an overview of "secure biometrics", also referred to as "biometric template protection", an emerging class of methods that address these concerns.