The Rolls Royce of Security
Are biometrics worth the expense?
by Jerri L. Ledford
June 2002
Just five years ago, most application developers regarded fingerprint scanners and voice print analyzers as the stuff of science fiction. The devices made for good security, but the cost of such high-tech gadgetry made it beyond the reach of all but the most dedicated mad scientists.
For the last few years, however, biometric security devices have been a growth area
in the technology industry. Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, financial institutions, and corporations are all beginning to
move from using simple password security
to something far more secure—a unique identifier, one that's very hard to fake. As a result, there's probably a biometric device coming to a network or application near you.
As the applications for biometrics have broadened, the price of biometric scanning hardware has decreased, and is expected
to keep dropping. The International Biometric Group (IBG), a research firm in
New York City, expects revenues from biometrics products to grow from $399 million in the year 2000 to $1.9 billion
by 2005. So is biometric security right
for your application? There are several factors to consider.
Outdated Security
The Internet and wide-area networks have lengthened the reach of many IT organizations, but they've also made networks more vulnerable. Frustration with current security technologies has been growing exponentially. Each time a secure system is compromised it can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and downtime, making inadequate security a serious risk for any organization.
Hackers have compromised even some
of the more elaborate hardware-based authentication systems. Take, for example, the case of 36-year-old Serge Humpich, the French hacker dubbed "the Count of Monte Crypto."
