1. A method for authenticating a user to a secure system, comprising: capturing with an image capture device an image comprising an eye of a user; generating with a processing unit an encrypted iris template from the image; storing said encrypted iris template in a storage; performing with a processing unit liveness verification on an eye of the user; comparing with a processing unit the generated encrypted iris template to an enrolled iris template; granting the user access to the secure system if the generated encrypted iris template matches the enrolled iris template and if the liveness verification demonstrates the eye of the user is live; denying the user access to the secure system if the generated encrypted iris template does not match the enrolled iris template; and denying the user access to the secure system if the liveness verification demonstrates the eye of the user; wherein generating the iris template from the first image further comprises: identifying the user's face in the image; identifying the user's eyes in the image; if no face or eyes are identified in the image, returning to the capturing step; segmenting left and right eyes from the image; performing a quality check on irises of the segmented eyes; if one or both irises pass the quality check, generating the iris template; and if each of the irises fails the quality check, determining whether more irises are present in the image; if more irises are present in the image, performing a quality check on the additional irises; and if no more irises are present in the image, returning to the capturing of an image.