Two-factor face authentication using matrix permutation transformation and a user password

Although authentication using biometric techniques is convenient, security issues such as the loss of personal bio-information are serious problems. However, the development of a secure biometrics scheme poses considerable challenges because users' bio-information is not precisely the same for each authentication attempt. This uncertainty during the authentication process obstructs direct application of cryptographic one-way functions in the authentication system. In this paper, we suggest a two-factor face authentication scheme using matrix transformations and a user password. Our scheme is designed with a secure cancellation feature, in that templates composed of permutation and feature vectors can be freely changed. Through experimental scenarios and results, we introduce the notable features of our scheme. Furthermore, we consider possible attacks on the proposed scheme and suggest security enhancement methods. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.