TREND #1: Government Mandates- FIPS 201 & PIV

Today’s security landscape has had a major impact on the world, specifically for the U.S. government, post-9/11. With the introduction of FIPS 201 requirements and PIV requirements for Federal employees and contractors in 2005, all government facilities are required to implement a specific plan for implementation by the end of 2011. Agencies wishing to leverage funds from the OMB must have a plan to upgrade all existing physical and logical access control systems to support PIV.

A major aspect of FIPS 201 focuses on the credential itself, since the PIV card must be smart and meet a variety of ISO/IEC specifications, read/write capabilities and encryption standards. We also believe that the upcoming FIPS 201-2 revision will drive additional access control requirements in the near future.

TREND #2: Security Migration for College Campuses

We’re seeing a general need for a migration path from low security credentials to higher security technologies for both college campuses and other types of facilities. Since this results in a mixed credential population, we’ve addressed this migration by introducing lock solutions that support both magnetic stripe and prox or iCLASS credentials, as well as lock solutions that can read multiple credentials with a single reader.

There is also a continued need to cut costs market wide, so we feel lock solutions that include fewer components, reducing material and installation costs and decreasing maintenance over the life of the product are the best option.

TREND #3: The Adoption of NFC/Mobile Keys

The advent of NFC or Mobile Keys technology in environments like college campuses, hotels and homes is another big trend we’re seeing across the industry.

This ID technology enables credentials and key information to be sent directly to smart devices over the air, enabling individuals to unlock a door by authenticating the smart device to the lock. This is an exciting area that we believe will begin to grow tremendously in the future. It offers not only higher security but also the simple convenience that users have come to expect as an increasing number of services become available through mobile phones.

Secure Identity Object (SIO) is another new technology from HID Global for digital credentials that supports advanced applications, mobility and heightened security. SIO ensures data authenticity and privacy through multi-layered security with tamper-proof protection of keys. An SIO can be an ID number or a fingerprint, and is not limited to traditional credentials so it can reside on a smart phone as a mobile key or on a key fob or token.

Overall, we’re seeing that organizations are matching the level of protection commensurate with the actual level of threat, with a custom security solution tailored to the specific requirements of each opening.

We will continue to see credential and ID technology rapidly evolve as decision makers begin customizing security solutions to meet the level of threat posed at higher education facilities, ensure compliance with requirements for government agencies, and address the growing demands for commercial spaces.

About the AVISIAN Publishing Expert Panel

At the close of each year, AVISIAN Publishing’s editorial team selects a group of key leaders from various sectors of the ID technology market to serve as Expert Panelists. Each individual is asked to share their unique insight into what lies ahead. During the month of January, these panelist’s predictions are published daily at the appropriate title within the AVISIAN suite of ID technology publications: SecureIDNews, ContactlessNews, CR80News, NFCNews, DigitalIDNews, ThirdFactor, RFIDNews, EnterpriseIDNews, FinancialIDNews, GovernmentIDNews, HealthIDNews, FIPS201.com, IDNoticias ^es.