Kaba Access Control recently unveiled its new E-Plex 5800 series, which features a stand-alone access control system approved by GSA to meet FIPS 201 requirements.

The CoreStreet Enabled E-Plex 5800 series incorporates a variety of options and features to accommodate to the customer’s preferences and applications. ▸

ARM has announced the launch of its SecurCore SC000 processor, designed specifically for the high-volume smart card and embedded security applications.

The SC000 processor is the latest addition to the ARM SecurCore line of processors, expanding the range of target applications into tamper-resistant contact and contactless smart cards such as SIM, government, banking, transport, ID and conditional access. ▸

At a meeting on identity cards at London’s Social Market Foundation, Meg Hillier, UK Identity Minster, announced plans to have the stored information for new biometric ID cards to be stored across three different databases for security purposes, according to a ZDNet UK article.

The new plan was created after the original plan to store all data for the cards on a database housed by the Department for Work and Pension. ▸

On Track Innovations (OTI) announced that Smart Applications International (SMART), a Kenyan health care solutions provider, has placed an order for an additional 100,000 MediSmart cards.

The MediSmart card is a contactless smart card that contains the holder’s complete electronic health record (EHR), including personal and biometric identity, emergency contact information, medical history, co-payment options and more. ▸

Speed Identity AB, a Swedish provider of biometric capture systems, has been chosen to provide photo and signature capture devices called Speed Capture Light to Gemalto for the production of biometric ID cards for Swedish citizens, according to a Source Security article.

The program is an attempt to provide secure ID cards to the country’s residents after the post office stopped producing them. Equipment from Speed Identity has also been used in several other national ID programs including Europe’s E-passports, Visa documents and ID cards.

Read the full story here.  

Gemalto’s Tom Flynn and David Teo walk viewers through a demonstration of the .NET Bio product, a solution for securing Windows environments. In Windows 7, smart card-based authentication is plug-and-play but in cases when organizations want to use a biometric instead of a PIN, Gemalto has a piece of software that enables the user to use either card and PIN or card and biometric with match on card. Gemalto’s .NET Bio solution can also be used to digitally sign a document.  

Mission of new initiative is to help agencies, others put PIV credentials to use

The presidential directive ordering a standard, interoperable identification credential for federal employees is coming up on its sixth birthday. The deadline to have these Personal Identification Verification (PIV) credentials issued is more than a year old.

And while every federal employee may not yet be carrying around a PIV there have been more than 4 million credentials issued. So it just makes sense that the next step should be creating use cases for the IDs. ▸