Secure Three-Factor Remote user Authentication for E-Governance of Smart Cities

TL;DR: A robust authentication scheme is proposed that utilises only lightweight XOR, one way and perceptual hash operations for authorisation, and multiple factors such as User's Identity, Password and Biometrics are used for better scalability and security.

Abstract: With the advancements in the Information and communication Technologies, people's living are becoming more sophisticated and easier. Information and communication Technologies is the core of modern computing. Among its several applications, smart cities playa major role in the upliftment of the society's well-being. E-governance in the smart cities bridges the gap between the public and the government and hence plays a major role in the modern era. There arises some security concerned issues with the rapid growth of e-governance applications. To ensure its security, authentication must be more secure and must allow only the legitimate users to access the services. In this paper, a robust authentication scheme is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of the existing schemes. It utilises only lightweight XOR, one way and perceptual hash operations for authorisation. Also multiple factors such as User's Identity, Password and Biometrics are used for better scalability and security. The proposed scheme is validated with well known Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications tool. The security analysis concludes that the scheme is resistant to various attacks.