Biometrics and Security

Interest in biometric security devices has risen since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, prompting debates among security experts and civil libertarians about the effectiveness and appropriateness of these new technologies. In light of that, I was intrigued by some data released last week by The Data Center Institute showing that just 5 percent of the data center managers surveyed were using biometric devices for physical security. I guess I expected a slightly higher number.

The Data Center Institute - an affiliate of the AFCOM trade group - sent surveys on security to 3,000 data center managers, and received responses from 257 of them. Not surprisingly, about half said their companies were spending more on information security, a trend that is likely to continue.

But when it comes to physical security, card keys remain the primary tool of choice for restricting access, having been implemented by 84 percent of respondents. Security cameras and photo ID badges were each used by 74.5 percent of survey participants, while 63.6 percent required escorts within the data center.

Way back in last place were biometric security devices, which were used by 5.5 percent of those surveyed. This low number was a little surprising, as I've been in quite a few data centers in the past couple years, and many of them had some kind of biometric system - a thumb scanner, a palm scanner, or in some cases even a retina scanner.

Cost is an issue for those who were not using biometrics, 24 percent of whom said it was "too costly" while another 14 percent said it was "not in the budget." But more than 38 percent of respondents said there was simply no demand for that level of security.

The low number of biometrics adoption may reflect the fact that AFCOM's member base is heavy on corporate data center managers with in-house facilities, which have different security issues and needs than a muti-tenant colocation or managed hosting center.

Are biometric security devices necessary, or worth the expense? Share your experiences and opinions in our comments section below.