UDC 621.3.05

Volodymyr Kazymyr, Doctor of Technical Sciences

Andrii Mokrohuz, PhD student

Chernihiv National Technological University, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Information technologies of Biometric SECURITY for mobile devices

В.В. Казимир, д-р техн. наук

A.O. Мокрогуз, аспірант

Чернігівській національний технологічний університет, м. Чернігів, Україна

ІнформаційнІ технології біометричного захисту
для мобільних пристроїв

В.В. Казимир, д-р техн. наук

A.А. Мокрогуз, аспирант

Черниговский национальный технологический университет, г. Чернигов, Украина

ИНФОрмационные технологии биометрической защиты
для мобильных устройств

This article provides an overview of biometric security for mobile devices. Biometric security systems that use the retina, voice, facial geometry, fingerprints, signature and others have been considered. Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of biometric security systems is carried out in terms of integration with mobile devices. Improvement of biometric security for mobile devices using the existing systems of biometric security is proposed.

Key words: biometric security, biometrics, mobile device, recognition systems.

Представлено огляд біометричної безпеки для мобільних пристроїв. Розглянуто системи біометричного захисту, які використовують сітківку ока, голос, геометрію обличчя, відбитки пальців, підпис та інші. Аналіз переваг і недоліків біометричних систем безпеки здійснюється з погляду інтеграції з мобільними пристроями. Запропоновано варіант удосконалення біометричної безпеки для мобільних пристроїв, використовуючи наявні системи біометричного захисту.

Ключові слова: біометрична безпека, біометрія, мобільний пристрій, системи розпізнавання.

Представлен обзор биометрической безопасности для мобильных устройств. Рассмотрены системы биометрической защиты, использующие сетчатку глаза, голос, геометрию лица, отпечатки пальцев, подпись и другие. Анализ преимуществ и недостатков биометрических систем безопасности осуществляется с точки зрения интеграции с мобильными устройствами. Предложен вариант усовершенствования биометрической безопасности для мобильных устройств, используя существующие системы биометрической защиты.

Ключевые слова: биометрическая безопасность, биометрия, мобильное устройство, системы распознавания.

Introduction. Before consideration of using biometric security with the mobile devices in the future it is useful to look back and pay attention to the main events in the history of the biometrics and the biometric security development.

The term ‘biometrics’ consists of two Greek words ‘bio’ (life) and ‘metrics’ (to measure). The origin of biometric technology is much older than suggested by their futuristic image. The creators of the Great Pyramids in ancient Egypt recognized the benefits of working on the identification of pre-recorded personal characteristics. Egyptians are clearly ahead of their time, as for the next four thousand years in this area practically nothing new happened. Only in the late 19th century began to emerge systems using fingerprints and other physical characteristics to identify people. For example, in 1880, Henry Faulds, a Scottish physician, who lived in Japan, published his reflections on the diversity and uniqueness of fingerprints, and suggested that they may be used to identify criminals. In 1900 Galton-Henry published a significant work about a system of fingerprint classification. Every 3-5 years after 1930 some significant researches had been made in the field of the biometrics before nowadays. The development of the biometrics became faster with the improvement of computer systems in 20th century [1]. Meaning of the ‘biometrics’ is changed due to the rapid development of the computer systems. There is a quite good definition of the biometrics which is “the process by which a person's unique physical and other traits are detected and recorded by an electronic device or system as a means of confirming identity: Scanning of the human iris is a reliable form of biometrics” [2]. And another definition is “the analysis of biological data using mathematical and statistical methods the practice of digitally scanning and the physiological or behavioral characteristics of individuals as a means of identification” [2].

There are a lot of different types of systems which use the biometric security for person recognition and providing access to some information. These systems are based on fingerprints recognition, face recognition, iris recognition, voice recognition and others. Biometric security systems are used in different fields of human life, for instance, healthcare industry, government agencies, customer market, etc. The mobile devices protection could be implemented using biometrics, but there are still some problems dealing with technology of biometric security. There are many types of biometrics can be measured and used for protection in the mobile device. It is required to choose the most appropriate variant and consider the main advantages, disadvantages, potential risks, and benefits of the technology. Ethical problem is also one of the most important, because many people will not use biometric security on their mobile device and this problem requires consideration as well.

So this work considers biometric security technologies with short overview of each one including drawbacks, benefits, risk, etc. Some choices of biometrics recognition systems that can be used with mobile devices in the future are presented in the paper.

It is also required to determine the meaning of the ‘mobile device’ in terms of this article. People usually associate term ‘mobile device’ with smartphone, tablet or laptop, but many different and unusual mobile devices will appear in the future and this can change the concept of ‘mobile device’. For instance, Google glass is a good example of entirely new mobile device which was produced only in 2012 [3]. Mobile robots [4] which can perform some actions are another example of mobile device of the future.

Overview of biometric security for mobile devices. Many biometrics solutions exist nowadays. Some of them are used for biometric security systems and are able to provide appropriate level of protection. A survey of the biometric security systems [5] provides information about existing biometric security systems and their effect on people’s life in the future. Author of the article presents such solutions as facial recognition detector, fingerprint reader, voice recognition, iris scanner and recognition, veins recognition, DNA biometrics and 2D barcode scanner [5]. It is possible to add hand geometry and signature recognition solutions to this list [6]. As it was mentioned above, these approaches are able to provide security. Author of the article [6] gives some advantages of the biometric security. For instance, the biometric security is much preferable than traditional password-based authentication schemes, because they are more reliable then password-based system as biometric traits cannot be lost or forgotten. It is very hard to copy, distribute or share biometrics traits. Another significant advantage of biometrics is that they require person to be present at the time and the point of authentication. Thus, biometrics is more powerful than standard password-based systems, but it can be enhanced with password as well [6].

Two types of protection can be provided by the biometric security systems. They are physical access control and logical access control. Physical access control can be used for access devices which are applied at doors or computers. Logical access is a process of accessing data or computer programs [5]. Mobile devices can be used for different purposes in the future, so it will be possible, using biometric security, to provide both logical access and physical access. Using biometric security for logical access is an obvious and straight forward task, but how mobile device protected with biometric security can be used for physical access presents source [7], where smartphone with special application installed on it plays role of e-key. This application replaces houses keys and allows using smartphone as digital key, as seen in Fig. 1.

 

Fig. 1. Smartphone is a digital key [7]

Another variant of using mobile devices is presented in the source [8]; Google wallet application is presented in this article and it replaces credit cards with smartphone. Mobile device will be able to perform a lot of actions in the future and some of them definitely require high level of security which can be provided by using biometrics. These two examples demonstrate very important role of the mobile device.

• 1. Fingerprint recognition

The biometrics undoubtedly has advantage over standard schemes of security and authentication. Therefore, the most appropriate approaches should be chosen for mobile device security. One of them is fingerprint recognition. This approach is based on uniqueness of the different patterns of ridges which are the upper layer of skin [5]. This solution has a lot of advantages. For instance, it has very high accuracy, it is the most economic and widely spread solutions for PC, it is the oldest [1] and the most developed biometrics, it is standardized. Moreover, mobile devices with fingerprint recognition systems are available now. It is very popular solutions, but it has some disadvantages and social problems as well. One of the significant drawbacks is possibility to bypass fingerprint scanner using some technics. These technics were demonstrated in one of the episodes of ‘Mythbusters’ [9]. This episode demonstrates possibility of bypassing fingerprint recognition security system using finger pads which were made from different materials such as ballistic gel, silicon, etc. However, there are a lot more disadvantages for this approach. Dirty or dryness of the finger’s skin can be a reason of fingerprint scanner mistakes. It is impossible to use scanner for children, because the size of their fingerprint changes very quickly. There is also one big ethical problem dealing with this solution. Some people will never use the fingerprint security system on their mobile devices, because it is still related to the criminal identification [10]. So, using the fingerprint security system with mobile devices may not be possible without some modifications in the future.

• 2. Face recognition

Every mobile device has a camera which can be used as a face recognition scanner nowadays. The face is one of the easiest characteristic which can be used for security purposes. In the future it will not be difficult to install high definition camera special for this purpose in every mobile device. The obvious advantages of the face recognition systems are:

1. does not require special hardware for face recognition, because it uses only camera;

2. it is cheap technology;

3. it is non-intrusive, because users of mobile devices do not need perform any additional actions to get access to their device [10].

This approach is not unique as other biometrics recognition systems such as retinal, iris and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) recognition. Camera can provide only 2D recognition, so quality of recognition can be affected by changes in lighting, the person’s hair, age and if person wear glasses [10]. This solution can be used in the future, but 2D recognition should be replaced by 3D recognition. This will help reduce errors and mistakes in recognition system and provide higher level of security. 3D scanners are available nowadays. However, their size may not compatible with some mobile devices and this restricts using of the face recognition systems. Therefore, reducing the size of the 3D scanners is one of the priority tasks to make them appropriate for mobile device.

• 3. Iris recognition

This approach is focused on specific traits of human eye and uses characteristics of the iris. There is a definition of the iris “The iris is the annular region of the eye bounded by the pupil and the sclera (white of the eye) on either side. The visual texture of the iris is formed during fetal development and stabilizes during the first two years of life. The complex iris texture carries very distinctive information useful for personal recognition” [6]. So, it is possible to use iris traits in biometric security systems. The iris recognition has very high accuracy. FMR (False match rate) and FNMR (False non-match rate) of iris recognition gives result 0,99 % and 0,94 % [6]. This fact makes iris recognition systems is the most reliable in comparison with other approaches. Moreover, scanning of the iris takes about 5 seconds, so it is very fast approach as well. It is impossible to use eye of the dead person to bypass this system, because iris of the dead person deteriorates very fast to be useful [10].

Taking into account all advantages of the iris recognition system it seems very promising, but some drawbacks exist for this solution. These systems are very expensive nowadays, but in future this problem may be solved. There is an ethical problem which can delay introduction mobile device with iris recognition system to people. The iris recognition system is very intrusive, because user has to keep his eye too close to the iris scanner and this can be annoying for some people [10]. Therefore, it is required to concentrate efforts on overcoming of this problem. Nevertheless, this solution can be used for protection of mobile devices.

• 4. Hand geometry and veins recognition

Hand of the human being is very unique and traits of the hand can be used in biometric security systems as well. Hand geometry recognition systems are based on measurements taken from the human hand. For instance, these measurements can be size and shape of palm, height and width of fingers [6]. Another measurement that can be taken from the human hand is veins topology. Every person’s vein has unique physical traits that can be useful for recognition systems. Recognition system is able to capture image pattern of the veins, as seen in Fig. 2 [5].

 

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