Frost: Greater Reliability, Convenience Make Case for RFID, Biometric Security Solutions

July 22, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

According to Frost & Sullivan, the security industry is developing technology to meet those demands that will prevent rogue elements from crossing international borders without also creating bottlenecks.

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Recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan of the advances in emerging biometrics and radio frequency identification (RFID) for security found that the mandatory requirement to use biometric-enabled smart cards to gain access control is a major factor driving this market.

Biometrics is used today with applications such as national ID cards, passports, visas and driver's licenses.

Some of the latest security technologies are not flawless, analysts said, and in order to reduce false positives and distinctly recognize every individual, the security market has developed a multi-factor authentication technology that integrates two different technologies - RFID and biometrics.

This blended technology offers complex and enhanced security features that will make it difficult to breach. Analysts said administrative bodies, along with governments and major participants, work to ensure that end-users do not feel apprehensive about adopting these new solutions.

The access control and user-authentication application remains one of the largest driving factors in the uptake of both RFID and biometrics technologies, analysts said.

"With the biometrics market moving toward merging multiple modalities for enhanced security, it is expected that iris and facial recognition will gain increased acceptance," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Deepa R. "The RFID market is more focused on improving the performance of existing tags and the standardization of tags."

Despite the success of biometrics and RFIDs as stand-alone technologies in various applications, end-users remain unconvinced about their everyday practicality and economic feasibility as a blended solution, analysts said.

While both these technologies come with their individual sets of challenges, the fusion will present several more. Analysts said vendors will need to assuage customer concerns regarding privacy, which can be addressed through market education campaigns.

RFID technology is undisputedly a significant improvement on conventional barcodes. While barcode reading remains time-consuming and requires proper orientation of items to the barcode reader for smooth functioning, RFID tags allow simultaneous reading of multiple items in a stack.

Apart from showing fewer false positives than barcode technology, analysts said RFID tags and readers also exhibit greater ruggedness and reusability, since the integrated circuits (ICs) are better protected in a plastic coat.

"Another benefit of RFID technology is its ability to automatically update information about assets," said Deepa. "This significantly reduces the staff time required for maintenances and enables increased accuracy and reduced paperwork."

Biometrics also enjoys an advantage over traditional forms of identification like passwords, which complicate processes if the user forgets his or her password. Analysts said biometric access, such as fingerprint technology, eliminates the need for passwords by providing relatively hassle-free access to multiple applications.

"Further, regular passwords hold a higher risk of getting stolen or hacked into, while biometric data remains difficult to clone," said Deepa. "With security issues gaining a top priority, biometrics could witness improved adoption due to outstanding features such as ease-of-use, efficiency, user-friendliness and higher levels of safety."

Source: Frost & Sullivan.