International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 06 | June -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2066
Cloud Service Security using Two-factor or Multi factor Authentication
Jubin Luckose
1
, Sameer Chindarkar
2
, Dhanamma Jagli
3
1,2
Final year student MCA, V. E. S. Institute of Technology, University of Mumbai, India.
3
Assistant Professor, V. E. S. Institute of Technology, University of Mumbai, India.
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Abstract - Due to the recent security infringement
incidents of single factor authentication services, there is an
inclination towards the use of multi-factor authentication
(MFA) mechanisms. These MFA mechanisms should be
available to use on modern hand-held computing devices
like smart phones due to their big share in computational
devices market. Moreover, the high social acceptability and
ubiquitous nature has attracted the enterprises to offer
their services on modern day hand-held devices. In this
regard, the big challenge for these enterprises is to ensure
security and privacy of users. To address this issue, we have
implemented a verification system that combines human
inherence factor (handwritten signature biometrics) with
the standard knowledge factor (user specific passwords) to
achieve a high level of security. The major computational
load of the aforementioned task is shifted on a cloud based
application server so that a platform-independent user
verification service with ubiquitous access becomes possible.
Custom applications are built for both the iOS and Android
based devices which are linked with the cloud based two
factor authentication (TFA) server. The system is tested on-
the-run by a diverse group of users and 98.4% signature
verification accuracy is achieved.
Key Words: Cloud Security, Two-Factor
Authentication, Multi-factor Authentication, Security,
Authentication Process, Cloud Service.
I. INTRODUCTION
With the increasing trend towards ubiquitous
computing and Internet technology, remote access to
services and private networks is becoming a peculiar
feature of today businesses. These advances in technology
have facilitated both the enterprises and their targeted
user-groups or clients. In a recent report by Gartner, it is
estimated that the user authentication services used by
enterprises will rise from less than 10% as of today, to
more than 50% by 2017. However, the associated security
challenges related to user authenticity and safety of
private data have opened new avenues for malevolent
activities. The emerging requirement is to provide better
security solutions that could efficiently cater-for the
possible risks and loopholes endangering security of
Smartphone users.
Using static passwords for user authentication is a
risky venture. This is evident from the recent incidents of
security infringement faced by major corporations.
Around 6.5 million unsalted SHA1 hashed LinkedIn
passwords were leaked in June 2012. A data breach in an
FTP server owned by the IEEE resulted in leak of 0.1
million plaintext passwords in September 2012. Drop box
confirmed that it got hacked in July 2012 and therefore
offered two-factor authentication from October 2012.
Twitter, Skype, New York Times and Wall Street Journal
suffered security breaches during the last one year. Adobe
said it was investigating how 150 million customer
records were stolen during October 2013. Therefore, the
recent trend is to shift towards TFA, which is more
robust to security breaches and identity thefts. US Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
recommends the banks to use TFA, in order to monitor
monetary transactions. The user credentials presented for
remote validation for TFA schemes take a number of forms
such as one time issued pass-codes, biometric traits, Key
Fob hardware authenticators and digital certificates. In
this work, we propose to use dynamic handwritten
signatures in a TFA framework that runs on interactive
hand-held devices.
Human biometrics can be defined as the automatic
methods of recognizing different humans based on
measurable anatomical, physiological and behavioral
characteristics. Physiological biometrics are derived using
invasive methods that are based on some physical
parameters coming directly from human body. Non-
invasive biometric traits that are characteristic of the
concerned person are termed as Behavioral biometrics.
We prefer to use behavioral biometrics (i.e., handwritten
signatures) in the current work because of their high
acceptability due to less cumbersomeness and ease in data
collection. We argue those behavioral biometrics are more
suitable to use in TFA systems because unlike the Key Fob
tokens, user does not have to carry the issued identity all
the times. Moreover, risk of identity loss/theft is negligible
and these are difficult to replicate.
Among all the biometric measures, handwritten
signature is an old, tested and most commonly used
person authentication metric. Recent advances in sensing
technologies and efficient touchable interfaces present in
modern hand held devices have also made it an easily
deploy-able authentication metric. Mobile devices are
easily available to use and thus any authentication
framework using biometric data collectible through these
devices is of paramount importance. In contrast to
traditional scanners and dedicated electronic devices for