Remember those old spy thrillers and sci-fi epics that featured fingerprint, retina and facial recognition as a way of locking down valuable goods and information from intruders?
Now look at your smartphone: All those biometric identifications are available now, in the palm of your hand. (Fingerprint ID is standard issue, and commercial apps let consumers add data about your eye and face to their mobile security arsenals.)
Next, scale those capabilities to the enterprise level — or even the national level — and the security (and ethical) considerations become vastly more complex.
Organizations’ security arsenals are rapidly including physical data from users — from fingerprints to facial recognition. How can you help your customers come to grips with all this new technology?
Recent estimates hold that biometric authentication technology (primarily fingerprint encryption) is employed by nearly two-thirds of companies, and its adoption is expected to rise to 90% over the next two years.
For most IT buyers, adoption of biometrics is no longer a question of if, or even when. That means they need information about how to employ them securely and in compliance with legal guidelines about personally identifiable information (PII).
It’s a fast-moving scenario that raises plenty of questions — which gives savvy tech marketers the chance to step forward with answers.
Here are key areas where IT buyers are hungry for information:
Security vulnerabilities discovered in biometrics systems. The ability to differentiate users by their physical characteristics promises security far more seamless than passwords written on sticky notes. But it also creates new vectors for bad actors to exploit.
The privacy of biometric data collected by vendors. The issue of how to handle PII is already a hot topic when it comes to financial or medical records. The challenges of keeping customers’ biometric data raises the stakes to a whole new level.
Risks of biometric authentication in the workplace. If it can be implemented, it can be spoofed. Your buyers need to know how to vet the people with access to the organization.
How to implement biometric security with employees. Internal consumers are sensitive to these issues as well. Convincing them of biometrics’ security and establishing a policy for activating and deactivating biometric access is an essential piece of the puzzle for your buyers.
Each IT buyer’s situation is as individual as a fingerprint. Helping them understand and champion biometrics in the workplace can help open new doors for this fast-moving technology — and your own solutions that support them.
