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the
ation keystone process di-
rec
arily be implemented to perform mobile access control with
curity, defence, financial, homeland security, and high-level secure-
ac
embedded beneath a person’s skin may sound
is. However, when the Social Security Number
(S
plications, implement an RFID tracking system to locate
ev
tication system. “The problem is a
move fast and easy transactions. Therefore, we will introduce AuthenLink, a mo-
bile one-factor authentication system; a new approach to authenticate people by dis-
tinguishing characteristics, which we consider a fourth authentication factor: Type 4 -
Authentication by Emanation: something you CONVEY.
The user authentication main task in AuthenLink is made on the client side
(ChipUser), and our effort is to internalize the authentic
tly to an individual (chip is implanted under the skin of the user) instead of inter-
nalizing it to hardware (mobile device). Hence, we are confident that the base secret
originates from a reliable source – the ChipUser.
Target group
AuthenLink could prim
a variety of se
cess applications such as government, research centres, business, and organizations.
It could also be appropriated to m-Commerce to allow end-users to perform mobile
electronic transactions. AuthenLink has to target the most tech-savvy mobile users
such as Innovators, Technology Enthusiasts, and Early Adopters. They are the main
target group for AuthenLink. However, our system is not suitable to Skeptics con-
sumers.
Implications on the User Experience
The use of an authentication chip
pedantic, or a little techy. In fact, it
SN) was implemented in North America in 1935 as an all-purpose identifier (ID),
people worried that the government would use it for other purposes. Some suspected
that we could be tracked and linked to one another with sensitive data. Today, the
vast majority of North Americans support some form of national identification like
the Health Insurance Card, Driving Permit, or Social Security Card. If we accept a
National ID system as we have accepted SSNs, five years from now the idea of an
authentication chip may not appear as threatening as it does today. As with SSNs,
people will get used to it.
Other people may be concerned about privacy because of the possibility that gov-
ernments may, in future ap
ery citizen at any time. Let us consider the colossal infrastructure costs for a gov-
ernment institution to track all citizens, not to mention the massive database that
would have to be generated. In fact, the viability of an application like this is beyond
any government’s capability. At present, in the U.S., one must obtain a court mandate
to use private information like cell phone records and credit card purchases. Hence,
the data generated from the use of RFID would be considered private and include the
same privacy protections that are in place today [U2]. “The notion of embedding an
authentication device in one's body is an interesting one. The U.S. government has
recently passed regulations approving the implantation of such devices in humans”
(Smith, R.E., personal communication, 2003
9
).
Finally, there is no way to control what could be realized, for example, with a bio-
metric authentication or, with any other authen
9
R. E. Smith, Information Systems Security Consulting. Web Site: http://www.smat.us/crypto/index.html,
Minnesota, USA, personal communication, July, 2003.
9