On biometric key generation from handwritten signatures

Abstract

This paper investigates the extraction of a reproducible bit string referred to as biometric key from biometric data. This is difficult due to the natural variability of biometric data. If the biometric-key generation process were sufficiently resistant against attacks, a biometric key may be used e.g. as basis for the generation of application-specific user passwords. Handwritten signatures or handwritten signs have been chosen because of their high level of user acceptance and because the exchange of compromised keys is possible by using other phrases to write. The experimental results show an insufficient reproducibility of the biometric keys if no auxiliary data is used for smoothing out the natural variability of the presented data.