Advanced multi-factor user authentication scheme for E-governance applications in smart cities

Twenty-first century is experiencing development and emergence of smart cities. Smart city paradigm aims at creating fully integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based infrastructure with a mission of next generation cities. With the advent of smart cities, ICT based E-governance has enabled smart delivery of services facilitating interactivity through the internet to the citizens. Nevertheless, Internet has also increased the possibility of infringement attempts during communication between government and citizenry. This paper proposes a novel remote user authentication scheme for E-governance applications in the smart cities. The scheme is lightweight and robust to attacks and also has low-computational overhead. A formal verification performed using AVISPA tool confirms the security of the proposed scheme.