The Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council has released a new white paper to help government agencies comply with the federal mandate to issue a single credential to all government employees and contractors for both physical and logical access.
Titled “Considerations for the Migration of Existing Physical Access Control Systems to Achieve FIPS 201 Compatibility,” the report, through a series of questions, makes recommendations on how agencies can migrate and upgrade their current physical access control system (PACS) to meet the requirements of FIPS 201. Some of the questions the white paper addresses include:
- What happens when some employees have PIV cards and some do not?
- How can the existing PACS accommodate the migration to FIPS 201 compatibility?
- Can systems be upgraded or must new systems be acquired?
- What security considerations are there?
“Smart cards and readers are just the tip of the iceberg in FIPS 201 deployments,” says Lars Suneborn, director of government programs for Hirsch Electronics and a Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council project leader. “The tools in this white paper help agencies to develop a solid foundation for their migration plans.”
The white paper is available for free at www.smartcardalliance.org.
