Biometrics & Remote E- Authentication

Electronic authentication (E-Authentication) is the process of establishing confidence in user identities electronically presented to an information system. E-Authentication presents a technical challenge, especially when this process involves the remote authentication of individuals over an open network. The objective of this ongoing initiative is to determine how biometrics can be used for remote e-authentication over open networks by providing equivalent authentication assurance to the conventional secret-based mechanisms, and create standards for such mechanisms. Researchers from the lab were actively involved in drafting the “Study Report on Biometrics in E-Authentication”. The report identified inherent strengths and weaknesses of using biometric systems in open network authentication mechanisms, and means for mitigating them. The report sought to highlight the differences in traditional authentication mechanisms and biometric based authentication in order to establish the differences between the two paradigms.