A new report from information security research and analysis specialists Goode Intelligence says the market for mobile phone biometric security products and services is expected to grow significantly in the next five years.
This year, mobile phone biometric security will generate just over $30 million - but the market is expected to grow to over $161 million (£100 million) by 2015.
Goode Intelligence predicts that initial growth will come from embedded fingerprint sensors and from voice biometrics.
Alan Goode, author of the report and founder of Goode Intelligence, said “Motorola has been heavily marketing the security benefits of using biometrics (fingerprint sensor) to protect its latest Android smartphone, the Atrix. It is even being called the ‘James Bond’ smartphone. Additionally, the recent problem that RSA has experienced with its SecureID product has resulted in a rush for suitable alternatives that are built for the 2010s and not the 1990s. The combination of the consumerisation of IT, where people are accessing IT services and information from a variety of employee-owned and employer-issued devices, plus the modern threat from hackers and cyber criminals necessitates a rethink for authentication and identity verification. Whether it is for protecting the physical device or for providing strong authentication and identity verification for a remote service, such as NFC-based mobile payments, mobile phone-based biometrics can offer a wide variety of solutions – the third factor in the palm of your hand.”