Security Biometrics Spending to More than Double by 2013

Many security experts are starting to turn to biometric technologies to ensure security, including the Department of Homeland Security, which has been working on biometric ID for several years. Now a new study says those technologies will become even more widespread as spending is expected to double by 2013.

In an article on SecurityInfoWatch.com, Geoff Kohl says the research, from ABI research, was part of the company’s new studies on emerging technologies. It found that security spending on biometrics technology will rise from around $3 billion in 2008 to $7.3 billion by 2013.

Jonathon Collins, head analyst for the project, told Kohl the growth over the next five years will parallel “the effort to create standards for biometrics technologies.” The study found that while the growth of biometrics was originally initiated by concerns over terrorism, it has also been adopted for reasons of convenience, such as for laptop sign-on using fingerprints, or to speed up pass-through at airport security checkpoints.

The researchers said that they expect fingerprint biometrics to remain the dominant technology in biometric applications for security, but that face, iris, hand and speech recognition are growing…

“It will be increasingly essential for organizations and companies, as they secure their facilities, equipment, and data, to understand the potential of each of these technologies as well as the potential to combine them to drive system efficiency and reliability,” wrote ABI in announcing results of the research on emerging biometric technologies.