Secure Dual-Layer Access Control using Visual Cryptography and LSB Watermarking

Secure access control in contemporary digital environments necessitates strong authentication. The conventional methods like Password-Based Access Control (PBAC) and Biometric Access Systems (BAS) are prone to attacks on passwords and biometric spoofing. Visual cryptography (VC) and least significant bit (LSB) Watermarking are modern methods to increase security through combining data encryption from a visual source and embedding a digital watermark. VC entails dividing a visual image into multiple shares (VC-S) to independently store or send it and LSBw (LSBW) hiding data in the least significant bits of images with preservation of visibility. Conventional methods do not incorporate two-layered security and result in data tampering during unwarranted attempts to access. To overcome the above challenges, we introduce the dual-layer access control ID System (DLAC-ID), which combines Visual Cryptography (VC) and LSB Watermarking (LSBW). DLAC-ID employs VC to split key visual data into safe shares and LSBW to hide authentication codes in digital IDs. The two-layered mechanism strongly enhances data protection against forgery and illegal access. Experimental testing proves the proposed system improves security by 40% compared to single-layer methods. The DLAC-ID system thereby presents an efficient and robust means of securing access control in digital authentication.