XTec was awarded the HSPD-12 Shared Service Provider contract by the General Services Administration and will suply PIV credentials and services to more than 100 government agencies.

The Sesames Awards were gives out at the start of the 2014 CARTES Secure Connexions conference in Paris. The only company to win more than one award was Syniverse in the Retail/Loyalty and Trusted Internet/Authentication categories.

Gemalto is delivering the Sealys electronic driver license to the public body responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration in the Netherlands; Infineon Technologies AG announced availability of a USB token reference design supporting FIDO Alliance Universal 2nd Factor authentication standards; SyferLock Technology announced that it has joined the ForgeRock Technology Partner Program.

Weekly news briefs detailing new reports on the fingerprint sensor and smart card markets as well as details on the Norwegian Police PKI project and improvements in fingerpint spoofing from NexID.

The U.S. Treasury had made progress but a lot of work has to be done for PIV compliance. Some 15% are still without credentials, 21% of facilities have PIV-enabled physical access control system and only 5% use the PIV for logical access.

The Security Industry Association looks at some of the potential technologies that can help the U.S. secure its borders. From biometric exit and entry to fences, real and virtual there are a variety of systems that can help protect the borders.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on cybersecurity with a focus on payment card security, identity theft and authentication. The focus of the announcement was on the move to EMV and the more secure chip and PIN technology. But, event more significantly, a short section of the executive order focused on a move to more secure authentication by government agencies.