Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States, according to the Secret Service and the Federal Trade Commission. It is also an ever-increasing threat to businesses as the sophistication level of hackers continues to evolve. To combat this risk, organizations are fighting back with new biometric technologies that play a vital role in confirming and managing identities.

Confirming and managing identities has a vital role in mitigating risk and addressing such wide-ranging challenges as physical and logical access control, insurance fraud, time and attendance records, and even ensuring a patient gets the right medication in a hospital.

The global biometrics market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2018, according to the recently released second edition of the Global Biometrics System Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2018 report. While public sector adoption of biometrics trails that of the private sector – as is the case with many emerging technologies – adoption across the U.S. government is accelerating.