Cryptanalysis of some user identification schemes for distributed computer networks

SUMMARYUser identification plays an important role for access control in networks. Recently, Hsu and Chuang proposed a user identification scheme for distributed computer networks, which can also provide key agreement and user anonymity. However, Tsai pointed out the weakness of Hsu–Chuang's scheme and proposed an improved scheme. In this paper, we present two attacks to examine that some user identification schemes have a serious security loophole. Finally, we propose a new user identification scheme, which is more secure than the existing schemes.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. User identification has drawn the attention of the research community in the last few years because it plays an important role for access control in network services. In this paper, we have found that some user identification schemes are not as secure as the authors claimed. We demonstrate the security weaknesses of the schemes by presenting two attacks. Finally, we propose a new user identification scheme, which is more secure than the existing schemes.