Authentication services and biometrics: network security issues

The Internet is increasingly becoming a public vehicle for remote operations. Integrating biometric information in the authentication chain exposes new problems. Remote virtual identity is starting to play in the way towards an eEurope, and applications for e-government integrate biometrics. Remote identity of subjects should be unambiguously stated. Several features drive the spread of biometric authentication in network applications, in order to provide end-to-end security across the authentication chain aliveness detection and fake-resistive methods, network protocols, security infrastructure, integration of biometrics and public key infrastructure (PKI), etc. This paper proposes a mid-layer interoperable architecture furnished with a set of generic interfaces and protocol definitions. This scheme enables a future introduction of new modules and applications with a minimal development effort.