Access Control

Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth:

and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right.

Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan:

and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

 Judges 12:6

Are You Who You Say You Are?

• Authenticate a human to a machine?
• Can be based on…
• Something you know
• For example, a password
• Something you have
• For example, a smartcard
• Something you are
• For example, your fingerprint

Something You Know

• Passwords
• Lots of things act as passwords!
• PIN
• Social security number
• Mother’s maiden name
• Date of birth
• Name of your pet, etc.

Trouble with Passwords

• “Passwords are one of the biggest practical problems facing security engineers today.”
• “Humans are incapable of securely storing high-quality cryptographic keys, and they have unacceptable speed and accuracy when performing cryptographic operations. (They are also large, expensive to maintain, difficult to manage, and they pollute the environment. It is astonishing that these devices continue to be manufactured and deployed.)”