MOMENTuM, a multibiometric draft for security on mobile devices.

From Viavansi, we are very pleased to announce that it is a year since we started our participation in MOMENTuM, a multibiometric project  for security on mobile devices that is being developed in collaboration with other leading companies in the sector. For those who are not completely familiar with the term, multibiometry is the  identification of the person through different biometric data, ie using different physical parameters that are unique in each person. Biometrics as an identification method  is settling more every day, in fact, a very clear example are the sensors that the latest mobile devices have to unlock the phone with the fingerprint of the owner. Likewise, voice recognition and even iris are forms of identification through biometric data that gradually gain ground to traditional passwords. For example, in many international airports, such as Stansted or Heathrow, face recognition is used to identify travelers entering the country as long as they have a Digital Passport. Biometrics, especially for sectors where a high degree of security is required such as banks and financial and health institutions, offers many advantages, not only by increasing usability – you do not need to remember passwords, nor have the digital certificate installed in your device or carry the certificate on any cryptographic card to operate. As Julian Fierrez explains, in his article “Banks have much to gain from biometrics“, the correct implementation of biometric systems for the authentication of their customers, could mean greater efficiency by saving time and costs on paper. Likewise, it allows the development of more powerful systems against fraud and facilitates the one that can be operated from a distance. It is in this scenario that MOMENTuM is created, a multibiometry project for security in mobile devices.

MOMENTuM: Multibiometric for security in mobile devices

The global objective of MOMENTuM is to provide a safe and usable access mechanism to services for electronic signature and other online services in mobility scenarios: it was born thanks to the collaboration of Viavansi with two other leading companies in the sector, SEIDOR CONSULTING and AYCOS Internet , to which is added the Tecnolóxico Center of Telecomunications of Galicia, GRADIANT. In the project are identified in two lines of work:

• On the one hand, develop a multifactor biometric security suite for security and access control on mobile devices. For this purpose, facial recognition (SEYDOR), speech recognition (AYCO) and handwritten signature recognition (VIAVANSI) will be used.
• GRADIANT will collaborate horizontally in the research and development of the biometric suite in its three modalities. The algorithmic improvement of these modalities, its optimization for mobile devices, and the integration in a multimodal fusion system are pursued, following the main standards in biometric and authentication solutions (FIDO Alliance). Make a mobile application that integrates the access method provided by the first objective of the project in the case of use of digital signature (in the cloud) in mobility scenarios. This objective will serve as a demonstration of integration and real use of all the technologies involved in the project and will be developed entirely by VIAVANSI

The MOMENTuM Identity application is intended to provide a solution to the largest number of clients. For this reason, all connections with third parties have been made as connectors, allowing in the future to add new IdPs, RAs or HSMs, here are the different connectors developed:

• Connectors associated with IdPs:
  • OTP
  • LDAP
  • FingerPrint
  • Email
  • SMS
  • Fido UAF. Thanks to this implementation, MOMENTuM Identity can integrate with any Authenticator that follows the Fido Alliance standard.

• Connector associated with RA
• Connectors associated with HSMs

The evolution of the project in this time As we mentioned before, almost a year ago we announced the participation of Viavansi group in MOMENTuN. The progress being made is very positive and we hope to achieve very good results. As far as Vianvasi is concerned, what has already been achieved is:

• Construction of the advanced electronic signature platform with centralized password storage
  • Realization of Connectors with different HSMs, namely: Safenet Luna of Gemalto and Cryptosec LAN of Realsec.
  • Connection with Viafirma RA
  • Implementation of different IDPs
  • Implementation of different signature formats: PAdES and XAdES
  • Implementation of an API Rest that allows integrating third-party applications with MOMENTuM Identity.
  • Implementation of a Fido Server embedded in MOMENTuM Identity and a Fido Client App
  • Android Client / iOS biometric demonstrator technology.
  • Android Client fido technology demonstrator.

Procedure for registering a user with Biometric IdP To capture fingerprint information, a fingerprint reader will be used external to the mobile device connected to the microusb of the device. The device used for this application has been TACTIVE. Enrollment and authentication of the captured fingerprint will be performed against a Neurotechnology server. The duration of this project is 3 years and has a total budget of € 2,075,000 with funding from CDTI, through the Feder Interconnect program, call 2015.