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MD5 Hash Function in Image Based Smart Card Security

MD5 Hash Function in Image Based Smart Card Security
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Author(s): Syed M. Rahman (Minnesota State University, USA)and Vincent Goh Boon Yew (Monash University, Australia)
Copyright: 2000
Pages: 3
Source title: Challenges of Information Technology Management in the 21st Century
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-878289-84-1.ch058
ISBN13: 9781878289841
EISBN13: 9781466665316

Abstract

The security of smart cards has raised a number of significant concerns over the years as they have become widely used. The potential for counterfeiting and fraud may pose significant financial risks to institutions issuing payment obligations in these systems and to other participants in these areas. Facial images or fingerprints for user authentication enhances smart card security to protect from illegal users. Attempt to alteration of image features need also to be protected. Cryptography is one critical approach used to authenticate devices, information and messages. It protects data including images from unauthorized alteration or observations. However, smart cards have limitations on the memory space and computational power, and using image features would require comparatively larger space and computation time if encryption is to be used. There are proposals to use hash functions with cryptography as a solution, which may be computationally efficient. In this paper we studied the variations in an MD5 message digest for minor variations in image contents. The results show that even a slight change in an image content significantly changes the message digest. Changes in the set of shifting parameters in the algorithm also showed similar performance. We use this result to conclude that the MD5 hash algorithm with cryptography should protect the image content for user authentication.

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