Biometric Authentication System with Secure Element Challenge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Biometric systems in IoT applications are vulnerable to replay attacks, where attackers record and replay biometric signals to gain unauthorized access, as existing security measures are insufficient to protect against such threats.
Innovation Solution
A data processing system with a biometric sensor coupled to a rich execution environment (REE) and a secure element (SE), where a random challenge is generated and applied during enrollment, and validated during access attempts, ensuring that only genuine biometric data from the sensor is accepted, thereby preventing replay attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional biometric authentication is used in IoT applications, then ease of operation is improved, but security against replay attacks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating a random challenge and applying it to the biometric data during enrollment. This pre-processing creates a transformed biometric template that incorporates the challenge, which must be present in any valid authentication attempt. The challenge is stored securely and used later to verify that authentication data originates from the genuine biometric sensor, preventing replay attacks while maintaining user convenience.
2Productivity
If biometric data is processed without random challenge, then processing speed is improved, but security deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The biometric processing is segmented into distinct stages: enrollment phase where random challenge is generated and applied to create transformed templates, and authentication phase where the challenge is verified. This segmentation allows the system to incorporate security measures without significantly impacting overall processing speed, as the challenge generation and verification are efficient operations that don't require complex computational resources during critical authentication moments.
3Reliability
If random challenge verification is implemented, then security against replay attacks is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a secure element as an intermediary component that securely stores the random challenge and assists in verification processes. This intermediary handles the security-critical functions of challenge generation, storage, and verification, isolating these complex security operations from the main processing logic. The secure element acts as a trusted mediator between the biometric sensor and the authentication system, managing the complexity of replay attack prevention while keeping the overall system architecture manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
A data processing system and a method are provided for recognizing a scanned biometric characteristic in the data processing system. The data processing system includes a biometric sensor, a rich execution environment (REE), and a secure element (SE). In one embodiment, during an enrollment operation, a random challenge is applied to scanned data to produce a biometric template that is stored. During subsequent validation operations, the SE determines if user data includes evidence of the random challenge before providing access to a secure application. Evidence of the random challenge indicates the user data was provided by the biometric sensor. In another embodiment, the sensor data is split between the REE and the SE and partially processed in the SE. The described embodiments prevent a replay attack from being conducted in communications between the REE and the SE.