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Face, iris scanners gaining ground on fingerprint readers as a security measure

The biometric side of the cybersecurity equation is getting ready to put fingerprint readers in its rear-view mirror as newer technologies coming into the market prove more capable.

ABI Research's most recent report indicates that about 1.2 billion fingerprint readers will ship this year, but despite posting that very lofty number face and iris recognition technologies are getting close to supplanting those readers. ABI pointed to Apple's adoption of face recognition for its iPhone X and Samsung opting for iris recognition for its S8 and S9 phones as the forces that will help push these biometric options into the forefront in the very near future.

“However, from established markets such as banking and payments to emerging ones like automotive and future-looking ones including robotics, we expect to see an increase in multi-modal applications and a scenario where biometrics is a critical component of a user's digital ID in the emerging IoT ecosystem,” said Dimitrios Pavlakis, Industry Analyst for ABI Research.

He pointed to the shift being made by the likes of GM, Nissan, BMW and Volvo along with government mandates in APAC that will expand biometrics further into banking, consumer, and telecoms as additional forces that will drive iris and face recognition adoption.

“Multimodal user authentication in the Internet of Things will not be another gimmicky option – it will be the security norm,” Pavlakis said.

ABI did not offer an estimate for when fingerprint readers will fall behind the other technologies but noted they will soon begin to cannibalize the sales of the older technology.

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