Method and apparatus for securely handling a personal identification number or cryptographic key using biometric techniques
First Claim
1. A method for securely storing at least a personal identification number (PIN), comprising the following steps:
- obtaining a biometric information signal bearing information from a body part;
generating a sequence of random characters to obtain a PIN;
obtaining a generating function such that said random characters of said PIN are parameters of said generating function;
obtaining a transform of said generating function;
encrypting said transform of said generating function with said biometric information signal to obtain an encrypted PIN; and
writing said encrypted PIN into a store.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus using biometric information (such as a fingerprint, an iris structure, etc.) as a cipher for encrypting and decrypting a personal identification number (PIN) which is used as an input to a PIN requiring device. The method of encryption of a PIN includes generating a sequence of random characters representing a PIN to be encrypted; obtaining a generating function such that the random characters are coefficients in an expansion of a square of said generating function over basis functions; and dividing a transform of the generating function by Fourier transformed information image signal to obtain the encrypted PIN. The latter is stored digitally or as a hologram in a personal card or a database. To decrypt the PIN, a full-complex spatial light modulator is illuminated with an optical beam carrying the Fourier transform of the biometric image of an individual to be identified. The encrypted PIN may be also stored in a reflective hologram which is nondestructively attached to a personal card, and the decryption of a PIN comprises illuminating the hologram with the beam carrying the Fourier transform of the biometric image. In other embodiments of the invention, a cipher may be derived from an intensity distribution (captured directly by a camera) of the Fourier spectrum of the biometric image. The PIN may be encrypted and decrypted either optically (with phase conjugation techniques) or digitally (using an encryption algorithm).
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for securely storing at least a personal identification number (PIN), comprising the following steps:
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obtaining a biometric information signal bearing information from a body part; generating a sequence of random characters to obtain a PIN; obtaining a generating function such that said random characters of said PIN are parameters of said generating function; obtaining a transform of said generating function; encrypting said transform of said generating function with said biometric information signal to obtain an encrypted PIN; and writing said encrypted PIN into a store. - View Dependent Claims (3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30)
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2. A method for recovering a personal identification number (PIN) for use in a device requiring a PIN for operation comprising the following steps:
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obtaining a biometric information signal bearing information from a body part; retrieving from storage an encrypted transform of a generating function, said generating function having characters of a PIN as parameters, said transform of said generating function previously encrypted with said biometric information signal; decrypting said previously encrypted transform of said generating function utilising said biometric information signal as a key for decryption to obtain a decrypted transformed generating function; undertaking an inverse transform operation on said decrypted transformed generating function to obtain an inverse transformed decrypted generating function; and obtaining parameters from said inverse transformed decrypted generating function to obtain a PIN. - View Dependent Claims (4, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 31)
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27. Apparatus for encrypting a PIN, comprising:
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means for obtaining a biometric information signal bearing characteristics of a body part; means for generating a sequence of random characters to obtain a PIN; means for obtaining a generating function comprising said random characters as parameters; means for obtaining a transform of said generating function; means for encrypting said transform of said generating function with said biometric information signal to obtain an encrypted PIN; and means for writing said encrypted PIN into a store.
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28. Apparatus for decrypting a PIN, comprising:
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means for obtaining a biometric information signal bearing characteristics of a body part; means for reviewing from storage a transform of a generating function, said generating function having characters of a PIN as parameters, said transform of said generating function previously encrypted with said biometric information signal; means for decrypting said previously encrypted transform of said generating function, said biometric information signal being a key to said encrypted transform; means for undertaking an inverse transform operation on said decrypted transform to obtain an inverse transformed decrypted generating function; and means for obtaining parameters from said inverse transformed decrypted generating function to obtain a PIN.
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Specification