Goode Intelligence: Mobile biometric security to see large revenues by 2018
29 October, 2013
category: Biometrics
Apple’s decision to implement its Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone 5S has sent shockwaves through the mobile landscape, a move that has mobile security analyst, Goode Intelligence, forecasting massive growth and revenue in the technology by 2018.
Goode’s new report, entitled “Mobile Biometric Security – Market Forecast Report 2013 – 2018” posits that along with Touch ID, the creation of a strong supporting ecosystem for biometrics on consumer mobile devices will see an estimated 3.4 billion users leveraging mobile biometrics by 2018. To accompany this increased adoption, mobile implementations are expected to generate nearly $8.3 billion worth of revenue for the biometrics industry.
Goode’s report predicts that fingerprint sensors will become a standard feature in most high-end smart phones and tablets by 2015, with the technology expected to be commonplace in all mobile devices by 2018.
The Mobile Biometric Security report also details the following key drivers behind the expected market growth and adoption of mobile biometric security.
The “Consumerization” of Biometrics. Apple’s open support of fingerprint biometrics has changed the forecast for the technology, disrupting the market and rebranding biometrics as a convenient method of communicating with consumer technology. Previously, biometrics has been associated with high-end security, border control, national IDs and access control to high-security locations, but Apple’s iPhone 5S and Touch ID products have cast biometrics in a new, consumer-friendly light.
Convenient mobile device protection. Existing mobile device authentication is cumbersome and inconvenient, and often leaves many devices with little to no protection. Replacing PINs and passcodes with an easy-to-use biometric solution can greatly reduce this burden.
Mobile Commerce. Mobile devices have become the prime method of conducting digital commerce, yet identity verification and payment authorization has failed to evolve to match this form factor. Biometrics offers a convenient and secure method to prove identity and to authorize payments.
As part of a multi-factor authentication solution. Most of the major authentication vendors support, or have plans to support, biometrics in their authentication solutions. These solutions will be further supported by authentication standards initiatives like the FIDO Alliance, whose goal it to enable biometrics to be easily utilized on mobile devices.
Mobile devices are getting more secure. Apple’s Touch ID leverages a “secure vault” that ensures fingerprint templates are stored in a secure area of the hardware. Sources indicate that Apple is using ARM’s TrustZone, a hardware-security environment for secure storage and trusted execution, to accomplish this. To make mobile devices more robust, security services are being built into all mobile platforms to counteract malware and to protect sensitive information and transactions. Meanwhile, complimentary services like Mobile Device Management (MDM), Secure Containers and Mobile Application Management (MAM) help to create a trusted platform that supports biometric security on consumer mobile devices.
For Goode Intelligence’s full market forecast report, visit the company’s website.