Implementation of an effective and secure biometrics-based student attendance system

This paper discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of a biometric system for recording students' attendance using both fingerprint and iris readers (e-attendance system). The system allows students to record their attendance when entering a classroom. This information is then made available to the instructors through a webbased interface application. The major impact of the e-attendance system is the noticed drop in the students' absenteeism rate. In addition, the system provides a reliable solution to prevent any student impersonation, where a student claims to be another one either to fake attendance or to take an exam for him/her. This work demonstrates the need for an attendance tracking system that is based on multiple biometrics technologies, especially in a multi-ethnic academic environment with a large student population. Finally, additional security measures, mainly Firewalls and Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) are shown to be required to achieve the needed level of protection for an efficient and reliable implementation. This is the case since biometrics readers can be vulnerable to common attacks, mainly denial of service attacks, and can be targeted by malicious students.