I.J. Intelligent Systems and Applications, 2013, 10, 74-85 Published Online September 2013 in MECS (http://www.mecs-press.org/) DOI: 10.5815/ijisa.2013.10.10 Copyright © 2013 MECS I.J. Intelligent Systems and Applications, 2013, 10, 74-85 Security Mechanisms and Access Control Infrastructure for Biometrics Passport using Cryptographic Protocols 1 V.K. Narendira Kumar, 2 B. Srinivasan 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Information Technology, 2 Associate Professor, PG & Research Department of Computer Science, Gobi Arts & Science College (Autonomous), Gobichettipalayam – 638 453, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, India E-mail: 1 kumarmcagobi@yahoo.com, 2 srinivasan_gasc@yahoo.com Abstract— Electronic passports (e-passports) are to prevent the illegal entry of traveller into a specific country and limit the use of counterfeit documents by more accurate identification of an individual. The e- passport, as it is sometimes called, represents a bold initiative in the deployment of two new technologies: cryptography security and biometrics (face, fingerprints, palm prints and iris). A passport contains the important personal information of holder such as photo, name, date of birth and place, nationality, date of issue, date of expiry, authority and so on. The goal of the adoption of the electronic passport is not only to expedite processing at border crossings, but also to increase security. The paper explores the privacy and security implications of this impending worldwide experiment in biometrics authentication technology. Index Terms— Biometrics, Electronic Passport, Face, Fingerprint, Palm Print, Iris I. Introduction An electronic passport (e-Passport) is an identification document which possesses relevant biographic and biometric information of its bearer. It also has embedded in it a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tag which is capable of cryptographic functionality. The successful implementation of biometric technologies in documents such as e-Passports aims to strengthen border security by reducing forgery and establishing without doubt the identity of the documents' bearer. The International Civil Aviation Organization has adopted a global, harmonized blueprint for the integration of biometric identification information into machine readable passports. The purpose of the new biometric passports is to prevent the illegal entry of travelers into a specific country and to limit the use of fraudulent documents by more accurate authentication of individuals. This study aims to find out to what extent the integration of biometric identification information into passports will improve their robustness against identity theft. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which plays a major role in setting global travel standards, has adopted a global, harmonized blueprint for the integration of biometric identification information into passports and other machine readable travel documents. The blueprint requires that a high- capacity contact-less integrated circuit containing a raw image file of the holder’s face in addition to other identity information such as name and date of birth be included in the machine readable passports and other travel documents [7]. The purpose of biometric passports is to prevent the illegal entry of travelers into a specific country and limit the use of fraudulent documents, including counterfeit and modified documents and the impostor’s use of legitimate documents. The integration of biometrics can provide better verification performance than the individual biometrics. Biometrics will also increase robustness of the biometric systems against the spoofing attacks and solve the problem of non-universality. Since the facial image is the mandatory biometric identifier to be included in the future passports, researcher study focus on the use of the facial image, iris, palmprint and finger prints for the identity verification of passport holders [1]. In order of least secure and least convenient to most secure and most convenient, they are: Something you have - card, token, key. Something you know- PIN, password. Something you are - biometric. 1.1 Purpose of the Study The primary objective of the study is to produce new knowledge with respect to security of biometric techniques in an e-passport setting. The results of the work should be useful for those making e-passport design decisions with respect to security and biometric technologies in an e-passport setting.