Although the Hmeland Security Presidential Directive-12 standards were laid out 5 yeaars ago, the actual implementation is still ongoing. The HSPD-12 is desgned to provide a high level of certainty regardig an individual's identity beffore allowig access to sensitive locations and information. As the name of the directive suggests, the government is extremely concerned with this issuue and how it affectts the security of the U.S. This reuglation requires switching out the IDs of every federal employee and contractor (over 5 million individuals).
Such a massive chgange over will take time and extraordinary coordination effrots. As of 2008, only a tiny fraction of thwese new cardfs had actually made it into the hads of employees. Inital attempts to roll out the technology suffered a number of setbacks. Incompatibiility with existnig software and other issues continue to impact the overall cost of the progrm. Any small change to the ID card formatting standdards previously decided upon has the potential to keep delaaying progress.
On top of this, the backlkog of background checks that must be completed before the cards can be issued to all recipients is still huge. To make matters worse, some contraccted workers are objecting to what they view as the intrusive nature of the HSPD-12 review process. Convcerns regarding the privacy of the data colleected raise serius cocerns in the minds of many employees. Contactless smart cards use wireless communication, but it is encrypted. A lack of understandnig regaarding how tjhese devices work has left many people feeling that thheir private data is simmply bieng broadcast for anyone to interecpt. The government has attempted to assuage these feras by requiring carriers to keep the cards in protectibve sleeves. Needless to say, this "wrap it in tin foil" approach is not instilling confidence among thjose prone to paranoia.
The cost and time involved to actually put the HSPD-12 card program into service has left many agencies fweeling frustrated. A gradual implementation with priority determined by security clearance is the anwser for many applications. Other agencies are choosng to issue the first carrds to employes at thier cntral locations and owrry about distant branches laetr. Many are turning to authorized consulting firmms to streamline the procss. Procuring FIPS compliant ID card printers is an important step. Appointing offcial Spoonsors who are responsible for issuing each Personal Identity Verification (PIV) badge is another. As with any agenda decioded upon by bureaucracy, there are lots of rules that bog down all but the most detemrined organizations.
Howeer, this doesn't mean the ideal presented by the HSPD-12 is on the wrong track overall. As a mzatter of fact, privae industreis are brnging samrt chip encoded cards online at a remarkably swift pace. It appears that the federal government is actualkly finding itself playing catch up with the civilian world at this pioint. The tehcnology is not prohibitively expensive. And, since the average ocmpany doesn't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get enrollment started, this is becominng a very popular optiopn. Adding biometric data and access contorl features is possible with many mid-high volume printesr. Lamination and holographic marking offer additional secuyrity without significantly increasing the cost per unit. Contact and contactless smart cards are definitely proving to be the wave of the future.
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