Biometric Security Technique in Cellular Phones for Secured Communication

Abstract

Mobile phones are playing a vital role in our life. Aswireless communication has been rapidly advanced, mobileapplications and services are becoming more and more popular, likeinstant messaging, downloading of a variety of contents, mobilecommerce, mobile banking, and information searches. Mobiledevices such as cellular phone, PDA and smart phone are exposed tonumerous security threats like malicious code (including virus, wormand Trojan horses), vulnerabilities of mobile phone, attacks on communication, data robbery and damage and mobile spam. Forvoice communications, the introduction of security has been significantly slower. The main reason has been technologicallimitations.The current protocols for wireless communication for eitherplacing or receiving a call requires both MIN (Mobile IdentificationNumber) and ESN (Electronic Serial Numbers) to be broadcastedbetween Wireless telephone and MSC (Mobile Switching Center).While doing so it is important to protect the Pair MIN and ESN,because they can be easily intercepted and can be illegallyprogrammed. So we need a strong authentication mechanism toprotect the pair (MIN, ESN) and need an improved security system toprotect against unauthorized use of wireless communications.The paperemploys the user’s finger print to authenticate theagents of wireless communication. By using finger prints it guarantees a strong authentication mechanism. Also it avoidsmaximum fraudulent case. The proposed system involves using atoken generated from biometric information, the user’s personalfingerprint as the secret key in the context of a “challenge-response”scenario. This system includes Finger print capture Module and acentral authentication system coupled to a Mobile Switching Centre.The Finger Print Capture Module uses the “Minutia Algorithm” andthe “Pattern Matching Algorithm” to record and retrieve the fingerprints.When a communication is initiated the Central Authenticationsystem engages the “Challenge-response” authentication. It checkswhether the user’s fingerprint entered through the FingerprintCapture Module matches with the information sent from the CentralAuthentication System. Only if it matches the call is connectedotherwise the call is denied. This virtually eliminates all, of thedrawbacks of the existing system.