Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Probaris issues credentials during DHS demonstration

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Probaris Inc., and its partners, issued 38 Virginia First Responder Authentication Credentials (FRACs) at the end of July in Chesapeake, Virginia. The just in time credential issuance effort was one segment of the multi-day Summer Sizzle electronic validation demonstration.

Summer Sizzle was hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, in conjunction with multiple states and state-level jurisdictions.


The purpose of the event in Chesapeake was to demonstrate just in time issuance of high-assurance credentials to emergency response personnel. Summer Sizzle also includes multiple scenarios to demonstrate the use of the credentials in disaster situations. The FRACs are interoperable with the FIPS 201 standard. The specification enables interoperability among credentials issued by disparate federal, state, and local jurisdictions.

Probaris equipped a mobile command center with its Probaris ID suite of identity products for the demonstration. The mobile command center traveled to disaster sites to issue FRACs to federal, state and local emergency responders. At the event last week, Probaris conducted the registration, enrollment, and issuance of FIPS 201 interoperable FRAC cards for state and local first responders in Virginia’s Hampton Roads community. [end] 

The General Services Administration (GSA) has implemented its first cloud-based physical access system at the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines, Iowa.

The GSA contracted with BridgePoint Systems to utilize its TrustAlert Physical Access Control Systems. BridgePoint partnered with EmbarkIT to install the system, which replaced the GSA’s 10-year-old legacy system. The system leverages the GSA’s Kansas City, Missouri-based WAN and remote IT infrastructure, which allows the building to shrink its carbon footprint.

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SITA, an IT provider for the air travel industry, has unveiled its first proof-of-concept for a solution that enables travelers to check in at the airport, gain access to members’ lounges and board their flight all with a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone.

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The U.S. Government Printing Office designed and printed an FBI special events credential that was used at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis by public safety personnel.

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Philadelphia-based identity software and services provider Probaris has gotten into the Identity as a Service (IDaaS) field with an offering that enables commercial enterprises, government agencies and government affiliated parties to issue PIV Interoperable (PIV-I) credentials.

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Philadelphia-based identity software company Probaris has released an upgrade to its identity registration authority software. Called ID 4.0, it now supports multiple credential, token and device types, enabling configurable workflows for varying credential form factors.

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Verizon Wireless is working with two ASSA ABLOY companies – HID Global and Yale Locks & Hardware – to demonstrate the benefits of smart phones carrying mobile keys.

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