Authentication of Individuals in E-exams - Essay Example

Authentication of Individuals in E-exams E-learning environments face a big challenge of providing a secure environment to their students and teachers, especially while conducting e-exams. The authentication process of these systems has not been given enough focus over the years. Due to the advancement in technology, authentication can be performed by using features as unique as biometrics. Biometric recognition systems can be used to authenticate students in e-exams so that the integrity and authenticity of their submissions is safeguarded. 2. Introduction Internet has leaped mankind to a new level of communication and education. Due to this advancement in technology, educational institutes are able to offer e- learning environments [1]. Security plays an important role in the implementation of such teaching systems so that a safe and reliable medium can be made available. There have been number of security threats recorded over the years for e-learning environments; double submission of assignments, unauthenticated e- exam taker etc. Incapability to properly authenticate the e-exams taker is one of the biggest challenges faced for e-learning environments [3]. Huang et al stated that there are still numerous security technologies that have not been employed to a great extent for authentication purposes [4]. 3. Topic Background One of the technologies that is making a name in the security sector is the biometric technology. Williams states that biometric are recognition systems that take humane identities such as facial gestures, fingerprints, iris, palm etc as input and then outputs the identity of the individual [5]. Biometrics used for recognition includes hand geometry, fingerprints, facial characteristics, iris and palm-prints etc. Fingerprint recognition systems are considered to be the most commonly deployed biometric systems, due to their precision, ease and performance [10]. Arista Knowledge Systems(TM) and DigitalPersona(TM) claim to develop the first e-Learning management system to verify students by their fingerprints [14]. Arges et al proposed a hybrid approach in which an electronic token or e-card was used along with the fingerprint verification to increase the authentication performance of the e-exam security system [11]. The system involved a process of enrolment- to capture the user’s fingerprint for the database and generate a specific e-token for the user. Authenticated users were provided access by verifying their fingerprints and e-tokens with the stored database. Hand geometry recognition systems require a small sized data to uniquely identify a user from its stored database or templates [12]. A system is proposed by Jain et al. [13] in which there exist processes of image acquisition, enrolment and verification. One commendable approach in this system to enhance the accuracy of the acquired hand geometry image is that two samples are taken from the user. Average is taken for these samples so that an accurate image can then be compared with stored database of enrolled users. This system can easily be deployed for e-learning environments because of its ease and accuracy. ProAccess FaceOK developed a system for the recognition of human face image [15]. They claim it to be the first system with the face learning capability. It provided users the access to the network only if a match was found with the stored templates. Iris is very commonly used for authentication purposes because it has many unique features that can be utilized to recognize individuals [16], [17]. A system was proposed by Jafar et al. [18] to provide e-security, it had the following steps; acquisition of eye image, iris localization, establishment of coordinate system, recognition/identification of iris and then finally matching score. They claim the accuracy of this system to be 97.3% and helped in providing an alternate to the id-password mechanism used for e-security. [19] Palm-prints have attracted some researcher’s attention because they have rich features like principle lines, wrinkles and texture. [9] Pavisic et al. explained a system which was proposed by them in another paper [2]; it was based on the fusion of geometry features of finger and palm. Palm prints were also considered to make the recognition more accurate. 4. Research Problem E-assessment can be classified into two classes; Web security and E-assessment security [6]. There has been lot of work done in the web security area but e assessment still needs more focus. There exist issues pertaining to the authentication of the students due to which the following security threats; [20] double submissions of assignments, [3] unauthentic e-exam takers, [7] non-deniability of e-assessment submissions, privacy and confidentiality issues. Therefore the research is focused on scrutinizing the techniques to enhance authentication mechanism in the e-learning environments to tackle existing security issues. 5. Importance of the Study [8] Gunasekaran et al states that some institutions have stopped offering e-learning opportunities because of the integrity issues of the student’s submissions. This research is an attempt to analyze the existing issues with authentication and provide their solutions with the help of biometric recognition systems. This will assist in removing any reservations regarding the authenticity and integrity of this revolutionary concept of e-learning and e-exams. 6. Research Objectives The main objective of the research is to investigate the different biometric techniques and approaches to enhance authentication measures in e-learning environments. To analyze the existing security systems deployed for e-learning environments and the risks involved with them. To investigate the ways in which biometrics recognition can be deployed with the existing systems to enhance the authentication process. To perform a comparative analysis of the different biometric recognition techniques. 7. Scope and Limitations The research will include a thorough analysis of the security measures related to the authentication process for the e-exams in the e-learning systems and the scenarios that may arise due to unauthenticated access. However, the research will not include other security measures that may have to be ensured during an e-exam such as conducting the exam in a monitored/secure location [6], test visibility is such that it prevents copying [6], ensuring that web-users are only able to access the exam server and not any other unauthorized area [6] etc. 8. Study Hypothesis The hypothesis is that the biometric recognition systems may enhance the security mechanism for an e-exam in an e-learning environment and make the whole concept more dependable. 9. Methodology & Design In the process of investigation and analysis of the topic in discussion, various qualitative methodologies will be utilized. The major sources of information and research methods that will be used are listed below: Case Studies: Security mechanisms of several online e-learning systems and assessment websites shall be analyzed and primary data will be collected. Literature review/ Desk research; using secondary data of published papers and statistics. Online and offline articles: Online and published technological magazines shall be utilized for the research of the respective topic. References [1] M. Alavi, & D. Leidner, “Research commentary: Technology mediated learning-a call for greater depth and breadth of research”. Information Systems Research, 12(1), 1-10. [2] N. Pavesic, S. Ribaric, D. Ribaric, “Multimodal biometric user-identification system for network-based applications”, IEE Proc. Vis. Image Signal Process., Vol 150, pg 409-416 [3] Y. Levy, M. Ramim. “A Theoretical Approach for Biometrics Authentication of e-Exams”, Nova Southeastern University, USA. [4] W. Huang, D. C. Yen, Z. X. Lin, J. H. Huang, “How to compete in a global education market effectively: A conceptual framework for designing a next generation eEducation system”. Journal of Global Information Management, 2004, 12(2), 84-107. [5] J. M. Williams, “New security paradigms”. Proceedings of the 2002 Workshop on New Security Paradigms, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 2002, 97-107. [6] E. Marais, D. Argles, “Security Issues Specific to e-Assessments”. 8th Annual Conference on WWW Applications. Conference proceedings, Bloemfontein, South Africa, 2006. [7] M. Kikelomo, G. Apampa, B. Wills, D. Argles, E. Marais, “Electronic Integrity Issues in E-assessment Security”, 2007 [8] A. Gunasekaran, R. D. McNeil, & D. Shaul, “E-learning: Research and applications. Industrial and Commercial Training”, 2002, 34(2), 44-54. [9] N. Pavesic, S. Ribaric, D. Ribaric, “Personal authentication using hand geometry and palm print features- the state of the art”, Proceedings of BCTP 2004, 2004 [10] U. Uludag, A. K. Jain, Attacks on Biometric Systems: A Case Study in Fingerprints. [11] D. Argles, A. Pease, R. John, “An Improved Approach to Secure Authentication and Signing.” [12] Biometrics, “Advantages and disadvantages of technologies”, 2006, [Online] Available at: http://biometrics.pbworks.com/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-technologies#Facialrecognition [13] A. K Jain., A. Ross, S. Pankanti, “A Prototype Hand Geometry-based Verification System” , Proceedings of 2nd Int'l Conference on Audio- and Video-based Biometric Person Authentication (AVBPA), Washington D.C., 1999, D.C., pp.166-171 [14] Business Wire, “Arista and DigitalPersona bring biometrics to e-Learning”, 1999 [15] Titanium-tech.com, “Titanium Launches ProAccess FaceOK World’s First Biometrics Security System Using Face Learning Technology”, 2003, [Online] Available at: http://www.titanium-tech.com/download%5Ce-press2.pdf [16] A. A. Onsy, S. Maha, “A New Algorithm for Locating the Boundaries of the Human Iris”, 1st IEEE International Symposium on Signal Processing and Information Technology December 28-30, Hilton Ramses, Cairo, Egypt, 2001. [17] G. Kee, Y. Byun, K. Lee and Y. Lee, “Improved Techniques for an Iris Recognition System with High Performance” Lecture Notes Artificial Intelligence, LNAI 2256, pp. 177-181, 2001. [18] M. H. Jafar, A. A. E. Hassanien, “An Iris Recognition System to Enhance E-security Environment Based on Wavelet Theory”, AMO - Advanced Modeling and Optimization, Volume 5, Number 2, 2003 [19] D. Zhang, A.W. Kong, G. Lu, X. Wu and M. Wong, “Low Resolution Palm Prints for Personal Identification”, Proceedings of BCTP 2004, 2004 [20] E. Marais, U. Minnaar, D. Argles, “Plagiarism in e-learning systems: Identifying and solving the problem for practical assignments”, Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT'06), 2006 Read More