Biometric random number generators

Abstract Up to now biometric methods have been used in cryptography for authentication purposes. In this paper we propose to use biological data for generating sequences of random bits. We point out that this new approach could be particularly useful to generate seeds for pseudo-random number generators and so-called ``key sessions''. Our method is very simple and is based on the observation that, for typical biometric readings, the last binary digits fluctuate ``randomly''. We apply our method to two data sets, the first based on animal neurophysiological brain responses and the second on human galvanic skin response. For comparison we also test our approach on numerical samplings of the OrnsteineUhlenbeck stochastic process. To verify the randomness of the sequences generated, we apply the standard suite of statistical tests (FIPS 140-2) recommended by the National Institute of Standard and Technology for studying the quality of the physical random number generato...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2004
• Where: COMPSEC
• Authors: Janusz Szczepanski, Elek Wajnryb, José M. Amigó, Maria V. Sanchez-Vives, Mel Slater
• Keywords: Biometric Methods, COMPSEC 2004, Number Generator, Random Number Generator