An advanced mutual-authentication algorithm using 3DES for smart card systems

Abstract

One of the most commonly used two-factor user authentication mechanisms nowadays is based on smart card and personal identity number or password. A scheme of this type is usually known as, a smart card based password authentication. The core feature of such a scheme is to enforce two-factor authentication in the sense that, the client must have the smart card and know the card PIN number in order to gain access to the server. In this paper, we propose and advanced remote mutual authentication scheme between a smart card, a smart card reader and the backend server database to ensure system security integrity. Our scheme provides high security and mutual authentication at a reasonable computational cost. Furthermore, it restricts most of the current attack mechanisms. It is simple and can be adapted to any kind of lightweight devices.