Abstract

Leveraging Biometrics for User Authentication in Online Learning: A Systems Perspective

Moini, A. and Madni, A.M.

Abstract

With the rapid proliferation of online learning, students are increasingly demanding easy and flexible access to learning content at a time and location of their choosing. In these environments, users connecting via the public Internet or other open networks, require varying levels of access authorization based on the nature of their online activities. In these circumstances, it is critical to verify/confirm the identity of remote users prior to granting them access to sensitive content such as quizzes, tests or personal/private records. Today, the overwhelming majority of online learning systems and applications rely on weak authentication, primarily based on username and password. Use of passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs), or even hardware tokens for user authentication is clearly inadequate in that these artifacts can be stolen, easily shared, disclosed, lost or compromised. As such, these methods are entirely unsuitable for circumstances where the outcome of an online assessment or an educational course of study is the granting of a formal degree, professional certification, or qualification or requalification for a particular skill or function. This paper examines the problem of remote authentication in online learning and explores use of biometric technology as a solution to this problem. It also outlines a 5-step process as the basis for a systems approach to ensuring that a biometric-enabled solution will meet the critical remote authentication assurance requirements. The process and systems approach employed here are generic, and can be exploited when introducing biometric-enabled authentication solutions to other applications and business domains.

From:

Moini, A. and Madni, A.M., IEEE Systems Journal, Special issue on Biometrics Systems, (accepted for publication) 2009.