A new security mentality

After a period of more than four years of wait, the movement to put into practice HSPD-12 initiated by issuing smart identification cards only a couple of months ago. Each and every federal bureau has now opened no less than one facility where workers and staff can go to attain personal identification verification (PIV) cards fitted to the stern specifications of FIPS 201 protocol. Luckily by the end of this year, federal agencies will start to activate a gigantic interoperable interface of card scanners in which any agency's scanners will be able to read and develop cards presented by any and all federal workers, regardless of what agency they are hired with.
On the other hand by the next year, HSPD-12 deployments will revolutionize government security by starting to install an interoperable access management interface that officials from any government agency can depend on. Prior to attaining the card, the staff member must display identification and have his or her picture and fingerprints confirmed it order to prove that the individual picking up the card is the person who applied for it and is the same person picking it up.
As soon as the staff member presents this card to the scanner that will begin to appear at federal doorways, a technological authentication interface will answer up to three queries. The quantity of questions is based mainly on the security needed at the door being admitted to. These three queries are:

• Is the card valid?
• Is the card displayed actually that of the person displaying it?
• Does the card remain in fine standing in the electronic records?

Deploying and setting up a card-issuing interface that can be relied on across the entire federal government has been the main mission for PIV access permits. Adding on, interoperability will be the main goal during the next coming months, this will translate to replacing or upgrading access management scanners, intelligent boards and servers so that the federal government's physical access management interface will be able to scan, assess, react to and trust the new cards of staff members.
From another aspect, GSA is already examining and certifying the scanners, ensuring the technology can read the information on the permits. Agreed upon readers appear on the GSA's data Technology Schedule. GSA has not written standards for access management interfaces. as an alternative, the agency has chosen to leave the details up to the access control suppliers.
Alternatively a number of departments of the federal government have established access management systems that will confirm with the requirements of HSPD-12 without too many problems. Smart card system for the Department of Defense was developed and carried out more than a few years in the past. If truth be told, DOD's surveillance interface was regarded over and over again, as a model for the government-wide access management interface now being constructed.

On the other side of the scale, several organizations have never done much more than have a security guard observe people as they walk through the gates. For these agencies they really have to start from scratch, since they do not have security technology to start with. As these systems come on line with scanners and updated access management utilities to communicate with new cards, around five million federal workers and members of the armed services will start to find out that their credentials are trusted by scanners, access management systems and individuals all across the entire federal government offices.
In actual reality, the smart cards are only part of the access management resolution. Scanners and other access management utilities to bump up the work accomplished by security guards are required to perfect a complete installation. Moreover, the optical turnstile is another new technology gaining popularity on a rapid rate. Optical turnstiles are time and again regarded as an integral part of a modern complex access management interfaces. On average, optical turnstiles are incorporated into a building's lobby architecture to grant a medium level of safety at the central entry point while balancing the building's aesthetic characteristics. Agreed upon and acknowledged equally by security/facility managers as well as architect/designers, the theory of optical turnstiles seems to be a dependable mixture of security and design theories.
For all intents and purposes, an optical turnstile mainly operates by sensing passage of a body amid two bollards (or pedestals) by the utilization of infrared optical rays. On average, a system of lights and sounders are incorporated as the user interface and the system is managed by the turnstile firmware established by the manufacturer. In addition to that, the optical turnstile also houses card detectors and synchronizes with the customer's HSPD-12-compliant access management system.
In a usual procedure, the optical turnstile scans a card after the user presents it, communicates with the access management interfaces to validate authorization and admits one individual to go past the detectors in the correct direction of movement. As soon as piggy backers, Tailgaters, and other illegal people try to follow a legal worker they are immediately singled out by visible and audible alarms, as well as by creating a recordable event in the client's access management system that normally must be addressed by on-duty security guards.
Nevertheless, these products grant a low-to-medium standard of security and safety. Despite the fact that the technology helps lobby staff in screening accesses to the building, it does not substitute the need for lobby personnel. A frequent occurrence is to have one lobby staff member screen guests, take care of inquiries and observe the traffic at the turnstile all at the same time.
Without a doubt, an optical turnstile interface does not take the job of security personnel at the entry gate, as a mantrap or security portal would behave. Generally speaking optical turnstiles do not physically put a stop to unauthorized access as a mechanical turnstile would be able to do. But nonetheless, as a result of fast throughput and high aesthetic standards, optical turnstiles are becoming routine in today's corporate and government facilities. Barrier-type optical turnstiles have accounted for a little over seventy percent of all optical turnstile purchases in the couple of years by most statistics. This reality can be attributed to a certain extent to the superior concern for and approval of lobby security since the tragic events of September 11th.
The larger demand on these products is also a direct result of the fact that the technology in this product range has enhanced immensely in recent couple of years. Enhanced throughput, more dependable motor drive interfaces for the barriers, better safety from accidental closing of the barriers in addition to improved emergency egress capabilities are some of the recent enhancements to the system.
On the other hand, another product that has come to the front position of the market in current months is the Delta 7000-B by Delta Turnstile Controls. Delta is an American-made swinging barrier arm product with capabilities such as a small footprint, rapid throughput, minimal false alarm incidence, warranty and optional crawl-over recognition.
At this point in time, one may wonder what could be next for government access management. It could be an onboard asset tracking technology, incorporation with active biometrics scanners, or even bomb/weapons recognition interfaces. The possibilities are truly infinite.