The next few years could be interesting for the enterprise when it comes to identity and access management. There will be an move to the cloud for identity management systems, passwords won’t die but they may become less prevalent and the IoT will disrupt.

Certification and products testing are not popular topics for those providing smart card and physical access control systems to federal agencies. They are often viewed as time consuming and expensive but they are also an essential part to make sure that these systems operate as a whole.

NIST announced the latest pilots for the National strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. The focus of this year’s NSTIC winners is on secure online access to state and local services with another partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for trusted identities in health care.

SecureAuth released SecureAuth Cloud Access delivering adaptive and multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and automated account management; Evolis launched its lamination module for plastic cards compatible with its desktop card printer Primacy; AMAG Technology announced the release of two new software features.

A slow news month has the same stories seem getting played over and over again. There have been two themes when it comes to authentication technology this month: people want passwords over biometrics and some researchers found vulnerability with facial recognition biometrics.

PVC is the standby for most card issuers. It’s cheap, readily available and easy to work with. But those same reasons make it insecure and not very durable and that’s why issuers should start to look at advanced card materials for their credentials.

Digital identity isn’t just about passwords or biometrics, enterprises need to have a multi-layered approach to secure employee and consumer systems, otherwise it can be costly. Fraudulent payments cost UK industry £755m last year – and the trend is rising.