The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a revised standard for government identification. The newly updated Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors guidelines include stipulations for improved biometric identification, as well as heightened mobile security.
NIST’s published standards include a description of the physical ID cards which will now be issued to federal workers, along with the requirements for issuing the new highly secure PIV documents.
The new cards feature a series of options that allow for much improved verification including the possibility of on-card fingerprint comparison, the option of using iris biometrics, either on their own or in multi-factor conjunction with fingerprints, and derived mobile device credentials for smartphone and tablet security.
Though the new cards will not be replacing current ones used by federal employees and contractors, any new PIV issued from now on will adhere to the new standards, in an attempt to improve federal authentication based on lessons learned from various government organizations.
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