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Anatomy Of Biometric Signature

An Effective Way Of Electronic Authentication

Deniz Özgür
Published in
6 min readMar 26, 2020

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Biometric signature has the highest security and ease of use among digital verification systems. It provides significantly greater security than the use of the static signatures considering the variance of individual dynamic properties of a person protecting against any attack which on the other hand can be a weak point of these method at the same time.

Let’s briefly examine biometric signing/authentication methods and see pros and cons of using biometrics in critical systems.

Biometric Authentication Methods

Biometry is a set of scientific findings, which focuses on the investigation and subsequent practical use of measurable characteristics of living organisms with the aim of unequivocally identifying them ( first identification) or verifying them ( then authentication).

Biometric authentication methods appear to be a reasonable compromise between demands on users and/or tools for authentication while not reducing the level of security. There are many biometric methods, but they can basically be split into three groups:

  1. Static
  2. Static with testing for the presence of a person
  3. Dynamic

We must make a crucial refinement between static and dynamic methods, where static methods are essentially a continuation of the confirmation guideline that the client “has something”, indeed in the event that this implies something that’s a portion of their physiology. This implies that there remains a chance of the misrepresentation of biometric data (faking fingerprints, iris picture, etc.) or their utilize through constraint. Thus, for illustration, at the current time, the confirmation strategies utilized for portable phones can serve at most as it were to console clients or for basic “superficial” security.

Dynamic authentication methods are arousing interest. We may assume the next level of protection from abuse, as we are moving from the variant that the user “has something” to the variant within which the user “knows something” and, what is more, they “do not know what they know”. These are processes where the first impulse arises within the central system in the human brain with a predefined intensity and duration. The system then activates the relevant muscles in a very defined order, in order that the user can perform a particular activity a signature, a particular gait, a gesture, and so on. during this case, therefore, biometry is predicated on the characteristics of a person’s behavior

Biometric Signature

A dynamic biometric signature seems increasingly appropriate to authenticate humans and also files containing important records. It contains facts approximately how the signature changed into created, and therefore reflects traits of the signers, their conduct and behavior, in addition to the reality that they made the signature consciously. These characteristics constitute a biometric footprint this is specific for everyone and can not be reproduced by using a forger (in contrast to the actual photo of the signature itself, which best makes up one of the parameters of the biometric footprint).

These include the basic features of a handwritten signature:

  • the duration of the signature process, including the periods between strokes
  • points and curves in different parts of the signature
  • the pressure exerted by the pen on the pad during different parts of the signature
  • the overall size of the signature
  • the form and shape of the signature
  • the length and angle of lines, arcs and curves, the number of loops
  • the speed of individual stokes, acceleration and deceleration

One of the critical attributes of a biometric signature is that it carries not handiest the detail that the author is alive, but also the fact that the signature become created by the writer consciously. Therefore, there’s no want to develop additional mechanisms to check whether the challenge is present, alive, or not — not like with static biometric methods (checking the print of a finger, palm, iris etc.). It is likewise legally beneficial, in that we are able to depend upon the (theoretically rebuttable) assumption that human beings knew what they had been signing.

In this way, we acquire authentication stats for the signer with next securing towards forgery. At the same time, the procedure simulates the standard procedure of a traditional signature. A biometric signature can be used as a handwritten signature, but it’s also possible to use it in the shape of a one-off password or graphical pattern that the person writes on the sensor or shows with a gesture — as an example the use of a mobile phone. A biometric signature would appear to be an effective opportunity to the simplest era used for electronic signatures to date — a signature based totally on asymmetric cryptography. It may be used with an advantage in instances whilst the implementation of certificates (partly due to their limited validity period) and the secure “concealment” of private keys notably intervene with the everyday activities of signers. From the angle of users, it’s also the maximum exceptional method, as the act of signing is some thing we do nowadays and every day without having any special knowledge, competencies or the ownership of any secret. Handwritten signatures are also one in all the most socially regular biometric features.

Techsign Biometric Signature Forensic Tool

Biometric signature has been a vital opportunity to classic digital signatures based on cryptographic methods. It may be used with an advantage in instances while the implementation of certificates (partly due to their limited validity period) and the secure “concealment” of personal keys extensively interferes with the ordinary activities of signers. From the attitude of users, it is also the maximum first-rate method, as the act of signing is some thing we do these days and every day without having any special knowledge, abilities or the possession of any secret. Handwritten signatures also are one of the most socially time-honored biometric features.

Through the carried out tests, we have shown that the extent of compliance, stability, and imperviousness to persuade for the duration of the creation of signatures achieved with the aid of the check subjects in different conditions is high. A biometric signature suggests nearly absolute resistance to imitation, and the stability of signatures made through the test topics in different conditions is high. Factors together with alcohol and stress haven’t any impact on signature stability either. The effects of the experiments have shown that a handwritten signature acquired through long practice and the compaction of the dynamic stereotype, which consists of the physiological, psychological, anatomical and motor characteristics of every person, is automatic to such an extent and stored deep inside the human brain, that its involuntary performance permits other approaches to take location concurrently within the cortex.

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References

  1. A. J. Thomassen and H. L. Teulings, “Time, size and shape in handwriting: Exploring spatio-temporal relationships at different levels,” Time, mind, and behavior, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 253–263, 1985.
  2. Y. Wada and M. Kawato, “A theory for cursive handwriting based on the minimization principle,” Biological Cybernetics, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 3–13, June 1995.
  3. R. Brickenkamp and E. Zillmer, D2-Test of attention, Seattle: Hogrefe & Huber, 1998.
  4. V. Smejkal, J. Kodl, L. Sieger, F. Hortai, and P. Tesař, “Stability of a dynamic biometric signature created on various devices,” IEEE Press, December 2017.

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Deniz Özgür
Techsign

Econ student @Boun, Growth Hacker @Techsign and tech evangelist