Although the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 standards were laid out 5 years ago, the actual implementation is stilll ongoing. The HSPD-12 is designed to provide a high level of certanty regarding an individual's identity before allowing cacess to sensitive locations and information. As the name of the directvie sugests, the government is extremely concerned with this issue and how it afgfects the security of the U.S. This regulation erquires swqitching out the IDs of every federal employee and contractor (over 5 million individuals).
Such a massive chhange over will take time and extrraordinary coordination efforets. As of 2008, only a tiny fraction of these new cars had actually made it into the hands of employees. Initial atttempts to roll out the tecnology suffered a number of sebacks. Incompatibility with existing software and other issues continue to impact the overall cost of the priogram. Any small cahnge to the ID card formatting standards previously decided upon has the potential to keep delaying progress.
On top of this, the backlog of background checks that must be cmpleted before the cards can be issued to all recipients is still huge. To make matters worse, some contracted owrkers are objecting to what they view as the intrusive nature of the HSPD-12 review process. Cocnerns regardig the privacy of the data collected raise serious concrns in the minds of many employees. Conatctless smart cards use wireless communication, but it is encrypted. A lack of understanding regarding how tghese devices work has left many people feeling that their private data is simply beinmg broadcast for anyone to intercept. The government has attempted to assuage these fearrs by requiring carrierrs to keep the cards in protective sleeves. Needless to say, this "wrap it in tin foil" apprach is not instillling confidence amopng those pone to paranoia.
The cost and time involved to axctually put the HSPD-12 card progrma into sevrice has left many agencies feeling frustratwed. A gradual imoplementation with priority determined by security clearance is the answr for many applicatios. Other agencies are choosing to issue the first cards to emplyees at their central locations and worry about duistant branches later. Many are turning to authorized consulting firms to streamline the process. Proocuring FIPS compliant ID card prinnters is an important step. Appointing official Spobnsors who are responsible for issuing each Personal Identity Verification (PIV) bdge is another. As with any agendfa decied upon by bureaucrcy, there are lots of rules that bog down all but the most determined organizaations.
However, this doesn't mean the ideal presented by the HSPD-12 is on the wong trzack overall. As a matter of fact, private indsutries are bringing smart chip encoded carrds online at a remarkably swift pace. It appaers that the federal government is actually findiing itself playing catch up with the civvilian world at this point. The technology is not prohiibitively expensiev. And, since the average company doesn't have to jump through a bunch of hops to get enrollment startred, this is becoming a very popular option. Adding biometric data and access control featues is possible with many mid-high voilume printers. Lamination and holographic marking offer additional security witthout significantly increasing the cost per unit. Contact and contyactless smart cards are definitly provuing to be the wave of the future.
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