With the emergence of digital technologies at workplaces around the globe, the data centers and physical IT assets of businesses have never been at such great risk from both external and internal threats. While a number of data breaches take place from a remote location, a significant amount are inside jobs done by employees seeking proprietary information. Some have been known to pilfer this confidential data and use it as a catalyst to initiate a competing business.

A variety of cybersecurity solutions are gaining steam, such as data decentralization and encryption. However, perhaps no form of data center security is more effective than biometric technology.

Biometric security provides access control and regulatory compliance
With a combination of card access, PIN and biometric technologies – which require fingerprints and other types of personal identification – IT managers can ensure fail-safe access control for their data centers. Whether it's a small private data center or a major colocation facility, biometric security is the best way to prevent data breaches and keep track of internal activity.

One of the most beneficial aspects of biometric security is its ability to help data center operators achieve regulatory compliance of network and physical security under HIPAA, FISMA and PCI-DSS standards, among others. The technology also allows a security manager to get a read on all the details of access control, such as who entered the data center, when they did so and what they did there. This information can help a business overcome plausible deniability and eliminate penalties. If necessary, it may also be used as evidence to prosecute.

The data center security market is growing swiftly, and so too are the uses for biometrics. A rising number of IT managers and business leaders understand that preparation is a cogent security plan and are beginning to act accordingly.

A forecast for the security market
MarketsandMarkets, a global research firm, recently estimated that the worldwide data center security industry will grow from $4.74 billion in 2015 to approximately $8.13 billion by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 11.4 percent.

North America is projected to have the largest share of the data center security market at 37.05 percent, but the Asia-Pacific region is expected to record a higher compound annual growth rate of 16.6 percent.

The research firm attributed the growth in the North American and Asia-Pacific markets to the development of new data centers, the emergence of cloud computing and colocation solutions and the rising security demands in the financial, government and public sectors.

"The data center security market is growing swiftly, and so too are the uses for biometrics."

Clearing the way for biometrics
Acuity Market Intelligence noted that by 2020, every smartphone tablet and wearable device will contain an embedded biometric sensor, according to Bloomberg. Fewer than 7 percent of these technologies currently have a biometric sensor.

"The faster the adoption of biometrics, the more attempts we'll see, in the same way that cyber fraud started taking off when e-commerce was on the rise," Cyrille Bataller, a managing director with Accenture, a digital strategy consultancy, told the news outlet.

A number of major tech companies have already updated many of their offerings with biometrics, the news outlet reported. The newest versions of iPhones contain Apple's Touch ID fingerprint reader. PayPal has strengthened security on its mobile app by requiring fingerprint sensors. Fujitsu, a global provider of IT assets, has launched an iris-recognition camera that can be used in smartphones. Yet despite these advancements, mainstream consciousness still lags behind.

"There's a real problem, and we haven't dealt with it as a society yet," Jennifer Lynch, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer advocacy group, told the news outlet.