| Computer security has been a growing concern for some time now, and that concern is only growing. Businesses and governmental agencies often use security devices to secure their facilities. Securing access to computers and buildings is gaining popularity, and is often accomplished with biometric devices, such as fingerprint scanners. The work explained and detailed in this thesis deals takes the security of the access control systems a step further by securing the transmission and storage of the fingerprint data that runs through the system when a person is attempting to be verified. The extra security is provided through the use of elliptic curve cryptography. This work uses this encrypted fingerprint information to verify the user's identity, without first decrypting the data. The fact that the data stays encrypted throughout not only offers a high level of security, but it also adds an element of speed to the system. |
