Strengthened Fuzzy Extractors using Turbo-codes: Case Study on Finger Vein Authentication

Biometric template protection is a key technology for the successful integration of biometric recognition in real-world use cases. However, single-factor biometric solutions have their own drawbacks, and even when a second factor is used, its disclosure can result in important information leakages about the biometric template, with a serious impact on security and privacy. In this paper, we introduce a multifactor Strengthened Fuzzy Extractor (SFEs) cryptosystem using efficient Turbo-Codes as Error Correcting Code and apply it to finger veins as a high-performance biometric trait. In our experiments we show the effectiveness of using user-specific helper data, by comparing two user-dependent approaches to the most common user-independent one. The use of a cryptosystem that takes into account the variability of the specific template, and a high-performance biometric trait, provides higher and more informed security. This contributes towards a more flexible and realistic integration of biometrics in less constrained scenarios.