Controlling user access to cloud-connected mobile applications by means of biometrics

Cloud-connected mobile applications are becoming a popular solution for ubiquitous access to online services, such as cloud data storage platforms. The adoption of such applications has security and privacy implications that are making individuals hesitant to migrate sensitive data to the cloud; thus, new secure authentication protocols are needed. In this article, we propose a continuous-authentication approach integrating physical (face) and behavioral (touch and hand movements) biometrics to control user access to cloud-based mobile services, going beyond one-time login. Experimental results show the security–usability tradeoff achieved by our approach.