SecureIDNews | ActivIdentity unveils PIV-I program

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ActivIdentity Corp., a provider of in strong authentication and credential management, announced that it has launched a PIV-Interoperable initiative to enable non-federal organizations to issue employee identity cards that are technically interoperable with U.S. government PIV systems, and issued in a manner that allows government and relying parties to trust the cards.

To address the newly defined PIV-I card standards, ActivIdentity has modified its ActivID Card Management System that is being used in conjunction with its ActivClient security software. Customers looking to deploy the ActivIdentity PIV-I credential management solution can also leverage the ActivIdentity PIV+ applet that enables PKI-based access control as well as one-time-password-based authentication on a single PIV-interoperable identity card. The ActivIdentity PIV+ applet together with the ActivID Card Management System and ActivClient are part of the government-approved product list.

As the PIV initiative progresses, PIV-I has become a requirement for commercial enterprises that interact with government agencies on a daily basis. Non-federal issuers of credentials need to produce employee IDs that can technically interoperate with government PIV systems and can be trusted by relying parties via cross-certification. However, the PIV card standard is limited in scope to the federal government and has several requirements that can be addressed only by that community.

In response to these interoperability requirements, the Federal CIO Council defined the standards for PIV-I cards for non-federal issuers. Several federally sponsored PIV-I programs already exist, including the First Responder Authentication Credential (FRAC), the Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC), and the Airport Credential Interoperability Solution (ACIS). Many other programs are in development with the same desired goal of technical interoperability and trustworthiness in the Federal government PIV environment.

ID efforts cited in TSA reform report

The U.S. House of Representatives released a report calling for reform at the Transportation Security Administration 10-years after it was created.

“The report is an examination and critical analysis of the development, evolution and current status and performance of TSA ten years after its creation,” the report states. “Since its inception, TSA has lost its focus on transportation security. Instead, it has grown into an enormous, inflexible and distracted bureaucracy, more concerned with human resource management and consolidating power, and acting reactively instead of proactively.”

Malware attacks smart cards

A variant of malware called Sykipot is circulating that purportedly enables it to hijack U.S. Defense Department Common Access Cards and Windows smart cards, according to Alien Vault Labs. This variant, which appears to have been put together in March 2011, has been seen in dozens of attack samples from the past year.

Codebench, S2 partner

Codebench Inc. and S2 Security Corp. announced that Codebench’s PIVCheck Plus software suite, a card validation, authentication, and registration solution for HSPD-12 compliance, now integrates with the S2 NetBox Extreme and Enterprise systems from S2 Security Corporation.

ORC is PIV-I certified for credential issuance

Operational Research Consultants Inc. (ORC), a subsidiary of WidePoint Corp., has been authorized to issue PIV-I as a certified non-federal issuer.

As a non-federal issuer, ORCs identity credentials, issued to government contractors, state and local governments, first responders and health care providers, have additional interoperability for customers who wish to conduct e-government and e-commerce transactions with other entities across the Federal Bridge.

Infineon unveils 65nm eFlash microcontroller

Infineon Technologies has released the first samples of its 65 nanometer embedded flash (eFlash) microcontrollers for chip card and security applications.

Co-developed by TSMC, the microcontroller features a 65 nm footprint that provides greater efficiency over former IC technologies, according to Infineon. The partners have also announced the development of new 300 mm wafers as a more efficient alternative to 200 mm models.

GPO produces credentials for Super Bowl

The U.S. Government Printing Office designed and printed an FBI special events credential that was used at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis by public safety personnel.

Subscribe

Print Magazine

Featured Events

Links

Searching …

ActivIdentity unveils PIV-I program