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Received Dec 22, 2017; Revised Mar 20, 2018; Accepted Apr 18, 2018
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1. Introduction
Brain computer interface (BCI) is a highly growing field of research with application in healthcare systems (from fall prevention to neuronal rehabilitation) to educational, self-regulation, production, marketing, and security as well as games and entertainment. BCI aims to provide a channel of communication that does not depend on the usual use of peripheral nerves and muscles [1]. While the main intended target application for BCI research is the development of motor function independent prosthetic devices for impaired patients, other applications of BCI, such as those for learning [2], gaming [3, 4], or entertainment [5], raise the need for ensuring the security and privacy of subjects using BCI systems. BCI systems are based on measurement of brain activity on the surface (in case of noninvasive BCI) or inside (in case of invasive BCI) of the human skull using electrodes. The results of the measurement represent the sum of electrical impulses emitted by a large number of brain’s neurons. Noninvasive EEG signal is recorded by attaching the electrodes to the head of a subject according to a given map such as the 10–20 international system for the placement of EEG electrodes.
Recently, BCI applications for biometrics have attracted increased attention from the researchers. Biometrics provides means for identifying people based on their physiological characteristics [6]. Recently, there has been tremendous growth in research on cryptography and biometric frameworks because of incredible need for data security in numerous applications, such as e-commerce, e-health, e-government, e-voting, blockchain, law enforcement, digital forensics, and homeland security. The goal is to verify the identity of a subject using some characteristic of a subject. In cryptographic frameworks, users use their passwords or secret keys to protect their confidential data. However, the use of passwords for identification has some well-known drawbacks: textual passwords can be spied over or cracked, and secret keys are too long and difficult to memorize and can be stolen if stored somewhere. The downside of cryptography is that verification strategies are not unequivocally connected to the...