Once the stuff of spy movies and sci-fi thrillers, biometrics has moved from the realm of 007 and into the world of everyday computers. Biometric features have been integrated into Hewlett-Packard PDAs, IBM ThinkPads, and other handhelds and laptops as a way to secure devices without asking users to remember numerous passwords for multilevel access control.

The use of biometrics, a method of verifying an individual's identity on the basis of physical features like fingerprints or iris patterns, has emerged in part because of a growing awareness that passwords are unreliable for security.

At a time when network access requires verification, passwords have been proven vulnerable to hackers, or simply too widely shared. Many I.T. managers can relay stories of sitting at a user's desk and seeing his or her password on a Post-It note stuck to the monitor.

Passwords also are easily forgotten, as a recent Gartner Group report noted. The research firm found that password-related calls to the help desk eat up nearly 30 percent of support time, and that each password reset can cost an organization between $50 and $150.

With passwords shown to be crackable as well as forgettable, biometrics has the potential to secure networks and data in a way that takes user responsibility out of the equation.

In general, there are two types of biometrics: behavioral and physiological. The former measures how a user performs an activity like typing on a keyboard or writing a signature, while the latter examines physical characteristics.

Sometimes, the two can be combined. For example, a fingerprint is physiological, but according to Joseph Kim, associate director of consulting at International Biometric Group, the way that an individual places the finger on a sensor has a behavioral aspect, because of the amount of pressure.

"People usually think of biometrics as an iris scan or a fingerprint reader, but that's only part of the technology," said Kim. "By bringing behavior into play, there's a potential for greater accuracy."

Biometric product manufacturers now can offer their technologies without a steep price tag, leading some companies to blend the capability into devices and others to offer standalone products.

On the integrated side, IBM has been especially keen to bring fingerprint reading capability into its laptop line. In early 2005, the company announced its ThinkPad T43, a new line with a reader that linked to an embedded security subsystem to provide built-in security. The company noted that it is investigating ways to integrate biometrics into all of its product lines.

Consumers in the U.S. have been waiting for biometric capability in cell phones , but the technology is lagging compared to other regions of the world, primarily Asia.

There, it has been estimated that more than 4 million biometric cell phones, PCs, laptops, and devices are in use, with rapid adoption. But analysts have noted that there will need to be more awareness of biometric technology in the U.S. before it finds widespread acceptance with cell phone users here.

What is finding a foothold: standalone products that can be used on a range of devices. In particular, fingerprint sensors have come down in both price and size. American Power Conversion (APC) has one of the most reasonably priced fingerprint scanners, at $50, with its Biometric Password Manager. The device supports up to 20 different fingerprints on a single system.

Retailers have boosted biometric use with products like onClick's DigiPad, which records signatures. Although some shoppers might believe that signing an electronic pad results in a side-by-side comparison with, say, bank records, the sensors are actually tracking behavioral biometrics, recording the speed, pressure, and style of writing rather than the loops of the actual signature.

Integrating biometrics into a security system in an enterprise environment may take time and training, but it is generally not as tricky as bringing together multiple operating systems or competing software.

"As biometrics has grown as a field, there's been an effort on the part of developers to make sure that it integrates with other security technologies," said Kim.

Most notably, some fingerprint readers have been fashioned to work with traditional keycard readers found on many company access doors. This saves a company from having to rip out existing devices and replace them. "It's easier now to put biometrics on top of security than to take out the security and put biometrics in," said Kim, who pointed to Digital Defense as a leader in the area.

For its part, Digital Defense has been creating products that address vulnerabilities, but also reduce redundancy and enforce policies and standards. "We firmly believe that security and vulnerability management in particular, should be treated as a risk management process rather than a project-based I.T. function," said Joseph Cooper, the company's chief executive officer.

One biometric technology that has not been integrating well into the corporate space is facial recognition, Kim said. Although cameras might be in place for surveillance, the technology is not yet accurate enough to be relied on for employee access.

"It's got a few years to go before it's really effective," said Kim. "Right now, the only way it can really be used is to access a database of known individuals in the building and speed up the process for security."

In general, companies should weigh security issues against whether it makes sense to spend the time and money for biometrics equipment, employee training and support.

"In the corporate environment, most people haven't seen a business case for putting fingerprint recognition into 5,000 desktops, although they might for 300 laptops," said Kim. "Integration is less of an issue than value."

Because biometric technology has begun to gain traction in the market, getting a boost from its integration into devices, it is likely that prices will continue dropping and technology will continue to be refined.

"Much like any kind of product, the more people that use it, the more it's in demand," said Greg Fournier, product line manager at APC. "With more people implementing biometrics, that will drive the price of chips down and spur innovation."

More development work is necessary, Fournier added, because several types of biometrics need to overcome technical hurdles. As yet, there is no technology that has 100 percent accuracy, and false negatives can be frustrating to users trying to access their data.

But the field has made great strides within the past few years, as companies work to make the technology more streamlined, accurate, and affordable. There also has been a focus on making biometrics more palatable to the masses, so everyone from a CEO to a sixth-grader can depend on the products without worrying about using them incorrectly.

"There's definitely a move toward making products easy to use, and self-explanatory," said Fournier. "And, if something is easy, cost-effective, and makes data more secure, it's going to get used."