Consumers are demanding more home, business and apartment security systems as the intruder threat continues to haunt decision-makers and property owners.

A new report by market research firm IBISWorld, however, found that the ongoing unstable economic climate has negatively impacted security alarm services industry sales in the past, as revenue is forecast to decline at an annual rate of 0.8 percent in the five years leading up to 2012 to $16.7 billion.

"While the industry has benefited from an overall trend toward alarm and surveillance systems, the recession caused many clients to reduce security budgets," IBISWorld industry analyst Kevin Culbert said.

The recession has also led decision-makers to cut spending on labor-intensive security programs that require guards and patrols and instead invest in automated or electronic technologies that are often more cost-effective, the report said.

However, analysts believe that as the economy recovers in 2012, industry revenue will begin to grow again as businesses up spending on defensive measures, increasing sales by 1.6 percent for the year, IBISWorld noted.

"The availability of low-cost monitored security systems for the residential market has also increased the household penetration rate," Culbert said. "Still, the residential market is sensitive to changes in economic activity and the recent fall in disposable income dampened demand for new and ongoing services."

In the coming years, integrated security system vendors will take advantage of new technologies like biometrics, IBISWorld analysts asserted. The use of fingerprint or facial recognition can better protect programs, as these features cannot be duplicated or manipulated.

According to a separate report by RNCOS, biometrics is one of the fastest growing technologies in the security market, as the market is forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of roughly 21 percent through 2014.