by Shane Henson — December 11, 2013—Facilities managers who use mobile devices as part of their FM toolkit or to monitor security equipment may be interested in a market forecast report recently issued by mobile security industry research and consultancy firm Goode Intelligence revealing that the market for mobile biometric security products and services is set to grow significantly over the next six years, driven in part by Apple’s positive move with Touch ID.
Goode Intelligence reports that as a result of the combination of Apple’s positive move with Touch ID and the creation of a strong ecosystem to support biometrics on consumer mobile devices, by 2018, 3.4 billion users will be using biometrics on their mobile devices, generating almost $8.3 billion worth of revenue for the biometrics industry.
The report details that fingerprint sensors will become standard in most high-end smart mobile devices by 2015, and will become common in all mobile devices shipped during 2018.
The report, Mobile Biometric Security Market Forecasts 2013—2018, shows that the key drivers behind this market growth and the adoption of mobile biometric security include:
- The Consumerization of Biometrics: Apple has changed everything and has again disrupted a market and rebranded biometrics as a convenient method of communicating with consumer technology. Previously, biometrics had largely been associated with high-end security; border control, national ID solutions and for providing access control for high-security buildings. This has all changed with the Apple iPhone 5s and Touch ID.
- Convenient mobile device protection: Existing mobile device authentication is cumbersome and inconvenient. This means that many devices are left with no protection. Replacing a personal identification code or passcode with an easy-to-use biometric can reduce this burden.
- Mobile Commerce: Mobile devices have become the prime method of carrying out digital commerce, yet identity verification and payment authorization has not yet been updated to match this form factor. Biometrics can offer a convenient and secure method to prove identity and to authorize payments.
- Mobile devices are getting more secure: Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint solution makes use of a “secure vault” to ensure that the fingerprint templates are stored in a secure area of the hardware. It is thought that Apple is leveraging ARM’s TrustZone, a hardware-security environment for secure storage and trusted execution. Security services are being built into all mobile platforms to counteract malware and to protect sensitive information and transactions. Complimentary services such as Mobile Device Management, Secure Containers and Mobile Application Management create a trusted platform to support biometric security on consumer mobile devices.
“Biometrics on mobile devices is not a new concept; the first commercial device to embed a fingerprint sensor was launched back in 1999. What we have now, and what has changed in the last 18 months, is a much more favorable environment in which biometrics on mobile devices will flourish,” said Alan Goode, author of the report and founder of Goode Intelligence.
