Biometric-Based Secure Encryption Key Generation Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Particle Swarm Optimization

With the rapid expansion of computer networks and information technology, ensuring secure data transmission is increasingly vital—especially for image data, which often contains sensitive information. This research presents a biometric-based encryption system that uses fingerprint recognition and deep learning to generate strong, random encryption keys. Two convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are employed: one to verify identity based on a user’s ID and another to extract fingerprint features for key generation. These keys are optimized using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), enhancing their randomness and resistance to brute-force attacks. The system generates keys in real-time, eliminating the need for storage and minimizing the risk of theft or leakage. To further improve security, encryption keys are automatically updated after every ten messages, with different keys generated from multiple fingerprints of the same individual. Testing with the SOCOFing dataset (6,000 original and 49,270 synthetic images) achieved 99.75% identity verification and 99.83% classification accuracy. Performance metrics—entropy of 7.89, correlation factor of 0.00628, and zero repetition—demonstrate high robustness. This approach offers a secure, adaptive, and personalized encryption method ideal for sensitive domains like finance and healthcare.