The value of biometric data analytics for modern businesses
Today, many businesses are operating in cyberspace, which has led to an increased demand for novel and effective ways to protect their assets and customer information from malicious actors.
In many instances, security threats lurk within businesses and can cause significant financial and reputational damage.
According to studies, the majority of the security breaches are caused by rogue employees accessing restricted areas information or simply a security oversight from an employee.
These internal threats are difficult to detect, especially when a company has a large number of employees.
While basic security measures such as passwords can help protect accounts and valuable business information, criminals find sophisticated ways to exploit these systems.
What this means for businesses is that they need an alternative approach to ensure the security of their data. Biometric analytics has emerged as the most comprehensive tool for this job.
Today, biometrics has become a part of life, as most of the devices we interact with leverage biometric authentication to protect our sensitive and personal information. An increasing number of modern businesses are also using biometrics to protect their data.
Studies reveal that the biometrics industry will be worth over $59 billion by 2025.
To truly understand the value of biometrics and data analytics in the business world, we need to explore what biometric data analytics can do for businesses.
Monitoring employee behaviour
Among all the biometric scanning technologies, fingerprint scanners are the most common.
As fingerprints are unique to each individual, these scanners are effective at identifying different individuals and denying access to intruders.
Today, many businesses use fingerprint scanners to monitor the attendance of employees. Fingerprint scanner data is used to calculate the working hours, the number of workdays and clocked in/clocked out times.
Biometric data analytics on fingerprint data can also be used to monitor employee movements during working hours.
For instance, certain parts of the company, which hold sensitive information or assets can be protected with fingerprint scanners, allowing only authorised personnel to access these areas.
Biometric analytics alert businesses if any unauthorised fingerprints are detected at these high-security areas, allowing the company to take the necessary safety measures quickly.
Protecting customers by keeping out suspicious individuals
Facial recognition technology is a more recent form of biometric authentication but has developed considerably over the past few years.
While facial recognition is not accessible to many small businesses, established businesses leverage this technology to protect their assets and customers.
American Airlines used facial recognition technology to streamline their customer’s trips through the airport and prevent unauthorised border crossings.
The company used facial recognition systems to analyse the facial features of every passenger and compare it with the border protection database—which includes information about individuals who are not allowed to cross borders—to confirm the identity of a traveller and alert the authorities if they are matched with the border protection database.
These systems are effective at keeping dangerous or wanted individuals off flights and protecting the airline, their passengers and employees.
Making recruiting safer
Businesses need to be aware of who they are recruiting to fill important roles because, as mentioned before, many security threats come from within the organisation.
By analysing biometric data from fingerprint and facial recognition technology, businesses can run background checks on their prospective candidates to see if they have a criminal record and determine if they are suitable to recruit.
Biometric data analytics is a valuable tool for any business
When biometrics and data analytics go hand in hand and play a major role in how modern businesses protect themselves and their customers against threat actors.
As seen in this post, biometric data analysis can be valuable for all businesses across industries.
If you’re looking to leverage biometric data analytics, give our Selerity analytics desktops a try. This is a SAS ecosystem designed to enhance your SAS experience.
Speak to our team for more information.
