Authentication thwarts unauthorised users from accessing resources in insecure network environments. Password authentication based on smart cards is one of the simplest and most efficient authentication methods and is commonly deployed to authenticate the legitimacy of remote users. Based on cryptographic techniques, several password authentication schemes have previously been implemented. However, all of these schemes are vulnerable to various malicious attacks that are discussed below. In this paper, we propose a secure remote user mutual authentication scheme using smart cards that achieves all security requirements. Furthermore, we show that our proposed scheme can withstand various malicious attacks and is more suitable for practical applications than other related schemes…