Episode 92: Mobile biometric forecast

There are a handful of drivers for adding biometric technology to mobile devices, says Alan Goode, founder of Goode Intelligence and author of "Mobile Phone Biometric Security Analysis and Forecasts 2011-2015." Many mobile phones are easy to break into, enterprises are enabling users to use their own mobile phones and NFC payments may require additional security. Goode predicts (http://www.thirdfactor.com/2012/02/23/report-mobile-biometrics-to-161m-by-2015) that mobile phone biometric security products and services generated more than $30 million in 2011 and that the market will grow to over $161 million in revenue by 2015. "These are not phones anymore," Goode says. "These are small computers which have access to a lot of private data and they're accessing some sensitive networks. So these are devices which are being used all the time. We have them in our hands all the time. We're glued to them, you know, we have a blue glare on our faces as we're walking around about town because we're constantly updating Twitter or constantly looking at Facebook and texting. So there's much, much greater risk of these devices being lost or stolen. As authentication vendors look to enhance their solutions, I would think there would be greater use of biometric."