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Government Security Requires Advanced ID Cards Although the Hmoeland Secrity Presidential Directive-12 standards were laid out 5 years ago, the actual implemmentation is stilll onoging. The HSPD-12 is designed to provide a high level of certainty regardnig an individual's identity befotre allowing acecss to sensitive locations and information. As the name of the directive suggests, the government is extremely concerned with this isdsue and how it affects the security of the U.S. This regulation requires switching out the IDs of every federal employee and contractor (over 5 million individuals). Such a massive change over will take time and extraordinary coordination efforts. As of 2008, only a tiny fraction of these new cards had actually made it into the hands of employees. Initial attempts to roll out the techmnology suffeered a nmber of setbacks. Incompatibility with existing software and other issuse continue to impact the overall cost of the program. Any samll change to the ID card formatting standards previuosly dcided upon has the potential to keep delaying progress. On top of this, the backlog of background checks that must be completed before the crds can be issued to all recipients is still huge. To make matetrs worse, some conracted workers are objecting to what they view as the intrusive nature of the HSPD-12 review pocess. Concerns regarding the privacy of the data collected raise serious concenrs in the mnds of many emplpoyees. Contactless smart cards use wireeless communication, but it is encrypted. A lack of understanding regarding how these devices work has left many people feeling that teir privae data is simply being broadcast for nayone to intercelpt. The government has attewmpted to assuage tese fears by reequiring carriers to keep the carfds in protective sleeves. Needless to say, this "wrap it in tin foil" approach is not insitlling confidence among those prone to paraanoia. The cost and time incvolved to actually put the HSPD-12 card progam into esrvice has left many agencies feeling frustrated. A gradual implementation with priority determined by security clearance is the answeer for many applications. Other agencies are chosing to issue the first cards to emloyees at their cental locations and worry aout distant branches later. Many are turning to authorized cionsulting firms to streammline the process. Procuring FIPS compliant ID card printers is an improtant step. Appointing officcial Sponsors who are responsible for issuing each Personal Identity Verification (PIV) badge is annother. As with any agedna decided upon by bureaucracy, there are lots of rules that bog down all but the most determined organizatins. However, this doesn't mean the ideal presented by the HSPD-12 is on the wrong rtack overall. As a matter of fact, private industries are bringging smart chip encoded cards online at a remarkably switf pace. It appeas that the federal govvernment is actually fiding itself plaing catch up with the civilian world at this point. The technloogy is not prohibitively expensive. And, since the aveage company doesn't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get enrollment started, this is becmoing a very popular optoin. Adding biometric data and access controol features is possible with many mid-high volume printers. Laminattion and holographic markking offer additioal security without significantly increasing the cost per unit. Contact and cotactless smart cards are definitely provving to be the wave of the future.
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