Enhancing security through continuous biometric authentication using wearable sensors

Abstract

The paper presents a novel approach for biometric continuous driver authentication (CDA) for secure and safe transportation using wearable photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors and deep learning. Conventional one-time authentication (OTA) methods, while effective for initial identity verification, fail to continuously verify the driver’s identity during vehicle operation, potentially leading to safety, security, and accountability issues. To address this, we propose a system that employs Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models to predict subsequent PPG values from wrist-worn devices and continuously compare them with real-time sensor data for authentication. Our system calculates a confidence level representing the probability that the current user is the authorized driver, ensuring robust availability to genuine users while detecting impersonation attacks. The raw PPG data is directly fed into the LSTM model without pre-processing, ensuring lightweight processing. We validated our system with PPG data from 15 volunteers driving for 15 min in varied conditions. The system achieves an Equal Error Rate (EER) of 4.8%. Our results demonstrate that the system is a viable solution for CDA in dynamic environments, ensuring transparency, efficiency, accuracy, robust availability, and lightweight processing. Thus, our approach addresses the main challenges of classical driver authentication systems and effectively safeguards passengers and goods with robust driver authentication.