Synthetic Iris as a Vulnerability of Iris Recognition System

Abstract

Abstract

Vulnerability usually refers to a security flaw due to a program failure, manual interruption or the like and means a state in which the system security can be compromised against illegal access from the outside world. Iris Recognition systems have been used as a means of authentication for quite some time now. Recently, it has been found that iris recognition systems can be tricked.  The tried ways of befooling iris recognition systems use fake irises made through gelatin or rubbery material, synthetic irises reverse engineered from iris codes, presentation attack using high-definition prints or photographs or cosmetic as well as non-cosmetic contact lenses with someone’s iris printed on it. This work tries to investigate synthetic iris as an important vulnerability of iris recognition system that needs to be addressed so that iris recognition can be deployed in a more secure way and with less number of challenges left unsolved.

Keywords: Synthetic iris, Vulnerabilities, Iris Spoofing, Reverse Engineering, Presentation attack, Contact lenses.