A recent study found that 69% of consumers are so frightened about the security of their ID and financial information that they want their banking companies, health care providers and governments to employ biometrics to protect them. Will the good old fingerprint swipe really get the job done? And should enterprises be as worried?The answer to both is: Yes.

According to biometrics hardware provider Authentech, there are an estimated 10 million biometric-equipped computers and peripherals already on the market. People have an average of 30 passwords to manage across different sites and services and "companies often spend $25 to $100 annually per employee to resolve password problems." I know I've forgotten passwords. It becomes difficult to remember them all, even if you write them down. And I'm not that friggin' old yet, so it ain't Alzheimer's.

Fingerprint swipes are one potential answer. You can program devices, applications and services to respond only when the fingerprint unlocks or authorizes access. The technology is much more mature than it was even a few years ago, and once the software "learns" your fingerprint it's pretty fool proof (error rates are less than 1 in 500 swipes). It would be very simple to finger-print protect a wireless banking application on a near field communication-equipped phone, for instance, meaning that the payment couldn't be made without the owner's finger present.

The major benefit of fingerprint swipes is its low cost. Given the number of sensors already in the market, the cost is negligible to add to PCs, cell phones and other mass-produced electronics equipment. (The Japanese have been using fingerprint swipes on cell phones for years.)

Other forms of biometrics, such as iris or retinal scans, are also good at providing solid identification, but are much more specialized, intrusive and expensive to deploy.

The enterprise applications of biometrics are obvious. Laptop makers Motion Computing, Fujitsu and Lenovo have included fingerprint swipes in certain laptops for years. Tie the sensor to network access and other enterprise applications and you just employed a whole new level of security.