Cost Considerations

Although the cost of biometric system imple-
mentation has fallen dramatically in the past few years, it is still a major barrier for
many organizations. Costs vary significantly depending on the type of system. Recent
reports suggest that newer fingerprint scanners can be purchased for as little as $50
per unit; voice recognition systems can cost in excess of $50,000. However, even the
least expensive biometrics systems are likely to cost more than simpler versions of tra-
ditional authentication systems. Experts estimate minimum costs, including hardware
and software, at $200 or so per user and upward of $150,000 for corporate-wide pro-
tection in a medium-sized business. Compounding the cost issues are problems related
to the lack of clear standards and the lack of clear interoperability between various
biometric authentication systems.
Many of the problems and difficulties with biometrics systems are likely to be
corrected or significantly mitigated with technological improvements, better user and
administrator training, and good control of environmental conditions. In other cases,
problems can be overcome or ameliorated with the use of countermeasures, such
as combining different types of biometrics, combining biometrics with traditional
authentication systems, and so on. Two major concerns that will continue to loom large
and deserve closer examination are biometric identity theft and user privacy.This is from Computer Security Handbook