Add the rest of university notes

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# Users and Authentication
- Users must be *identified* to enable:
- User specific access controls
- Individuals accountability for activities
- Claimed identities must be authenticated
- First line of system protection
- Safeguards against abuse by external parties or unauthorised insiders
##### Authentication Methods
1. Something the user *knows*
- passwords, PINs
2. Something the user *has*
- a card, a token
3. Something the user *is*
- a bio-metric so a finger print or the users face
#### Passwords
On one level they are very usable
- Easy to understand the idea
- Familiar across different systems
- high degree of cross device applicability
- perceived to be low cost
Ease of use is often because users have not been made to use them properly
- Users make poor selections
- Dictionary words
- things that people could guess or social engineer
- Use the same password on multiple systems
- Share them with other people
- Write them down in discoverable places
![1645037376.png](img/1645037376.png)
#### Current Guidance on Password Systems
- The latest NIST recommendation advise:
- Against automatic password expiry
- Passwords should only be changed when there’s a reason
- Against imposing rules for complex passwords
- Length matters more than complexity
- Against password hints or knowledge-based authentication
- Social media means these can be socially engineered
- To enable “show password while typing” and to allow paste-in password fields
> Passwords are a **broken mechanism**
>
> - The *method* itself won’t naturally improve over time
> - User *behaviour* won’t naturally improve either
> - Change the method or support people better
Browsers can now auto-generate passwords for us
- Avoids users making poor decisions
- But also avoids us
- Knowing what the password is
- Needing to know the good practice
Some devices may not support password entry
- For example dictating a password to an Alexa or google home
- Mobile devices with small keyboards can be tricky
#### Token-based Authentication
###### Examples
- Magnetic cards
- Smart cards
- Code generators
- Wearable devices
- Smartphones
Often combined with a secret knowledge to form a 2-stage / 2-factor authentication
- e.g. using an ATM requires card and pin
Smartphone apps can proveide the same functionality as authentication tokens (i.e. computing OTP)
- The users no longer need a separate, dedicated device
- Think nationwide card reader for transfers
- Relies on the security of the smartphone
- User authentication on the device and or the app
- Prevention of compromise via attacks
#### Biometrics
- Theoretically far more usable
- Nothing for the user to remember
- Nothing for them to lose or leave behind
![1645038798.png](img/1645038798.png)
![1645038972.png](img/1645038972.png)
Biometrics can be copied, but not easily
###### Desirable Characteristics
- **Circumvention** - the ease with which an impostor may be able to duplicate or imitate the characteristic in order to gain unauthorised access;
- **Collectability** - the ease with which a sensor is able to collect the sample;
- **Performance** – the accuracy, speed and robustness of the technique;
- **Permanence** - the ability for the characteristic to remain consistent over time;
- **Acceptability** - the degree to which the technique is found to be acceptable by those that are expected to be using it;
- **Universality** - the ability for a technique to be applied to a whole population of users;
- **Uniqueness** - the ability to successfully discriminate between different individuals within the target population
![1645039235.png](img/1645039235.png)
###### Biometrics Errors
- **F**alse **R**ejection **R**ate (**FRR**)
- Errors where the system falsely identifies the legitimate user as an imposter
- Also known as False Alarm Rate or Type I error
- **F**alse **A**cceptance **R**ate (**FAR**)
- Errors where imposters are falsely believed to be legitimate users
- Also known as Impostor Pass Rate or Type II error
- **E**qual **E**rror **R**ate (**EER**)
- The point at which FAR and FRR coincide
- The measure normally used to assess biometric products
- Failure to Enroll
- Errors in which the system is unable to establish as biometric template for a proposed user
- e.g. some people don’t have finger prints, some reglions require face covering
- Failure to Acquire
- Errors in which the system is unable to successfully acquire the information required to make a decision
A legitimate user’s experience of biometrics will be informed by:
- The combined FRR and FAR
- The throughput (speed & responsiveness) of the system.
Developers focus can change on implementation. For example if being used as a password replacement, FAR should be minimised.
![1645039834.png](img/1645039834.png)
##### Modes of Use
- **Verification**
- User claims an identity - authentication against that identity
- One-to-one match (1:1)
- Less unique characteristics can be ultised
- **Identification**
- Users’ biometric sample is compared against all in database
- One-to-Many match (1:N)
- Only the more unique biometrics can be ultised - fingerprints, iris, retina etc
### 2-Factor Authentication
Two-factor and multi-factor Authentication
- Combine two or more elements together to enable stronger authentication assurance
- Typical implementations have been a password & token
- Ideally you want factors from different categories
![1645040432.png](img/1645040432.png)