FIPS 201, Converged Access Covered by Smart Card Alliance at ISC West

April 3, 2006
Convergence panelists from DoD, Sun, SCM, Integrated Engineering

Las Vegas, NV – U.S. government agencies and federal contractors working toward compliance with FIPS 201, the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) standard for a converged, government-wide physical and logical access credential, are finding that implementation can include many technical, project and process challenges.

To help them meet these challenges, the Smart Card Alliance is sponsoring an informative live demonstration of an end-to-end FIPS 201 identity management system process at ISC West 2006 in Las Vegas, booth #25143, from April 5-7, 2006. The demonstration, covering enrollment, registration, printing, issuance, activation and use of a PIV card, will be presented by Alliance members Northrop Grumman Corporation, Viisage and ActivIdentity. In all, over 25 Smart Card Alliance members will be exhibiting at ISC West 2006.

FIPS 201, created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and published in February 2005, is the outgrowth of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD 12), which requires the establishment of an identification standard for federal employees and contractors. The directive aims to eliminate wide variations in the quality and security of federal access credentials, in order to provide stronger protection against physical and network intrusions.

The Alliance has also organized an ISC West panel discussion entitled “Smart Cards: Evolution of Security Credentials for Physical and Logical Security” on Wednesday, April 5th at 1 p.m. The discussion will cover smart card usage for physical and logical access and integration with biometrics, PKI and card management. Panelists include moderator Robert Merkert, vice president of sales, Americas, SCM Microsystems, Inc.; Bill Vass, senior vice president and chief information officer, Sun Microsystems; Lynne Prince, Common Access Card Office, Defense Manpower Data Center, Department of Defense; and Steve Rogers, vice president of sales, Integrated Engineering.

“Driven by the need for greater overall security in the post-9/11 world, and enabled by advances in smart card technology, the convergence of physical and logical access control onto a single secure credential is moving beyond discussion to reality in government agencies and corporations,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “As such, security professionals in both sectors need solid, timely and actionable information as they implement major infrastructure changes. The Smart Card Alliance’s FIPS 201 demonstration and convergence panel at ISC West 2006 will provide valuable insights and best practices for end users, integrators and executives.”

The ISC West calendar is online at www.iscwest.com.