Introduction

Abstract

Authentication of a person’s identity is a very old but challenging problem. There are three common ways which are used for authentication. First one is based on what a person has (Possession) such as keys, identity cards etc. Second mode of authentication is based on what a person knows or remembers (Knowledge) such as passwords, PINs etc. Third way of authentication is based on what a person carries, i.e. the characteristics of a human being (Biometrics). There are chances that the items which are under possessions may be lost and knowledge may be forgotten. But this is not the case with Biometrics. Limitations of the first two methods can be overcome if ones makes use of particular characteristics of the body or habits as the mode of authentication because they are difficult to forget or forge. This is the main driving force behind biometrics based authentication getting more and more popularity day-by-day. The purpose of using a biometrics is to provide a mechanism to recognize a person with the help of his/her biological characteristics and to eliminate the use of much inconvenient ways of recognition which are based on ID card, password, physical keys etc.