The Transportation Security Administration recently issued a solicitation for “Credential Authentication Technology” (CAT) which would ensure that only legitimate airport personnel, airline crews, non-traveling passengers using a gate pass, law enforcement officers and Federal Air Marshals can be granted access to sterile airport areas.

“TSA requires a Credential Authentication Technology (herein 'CAT') system which must have the capability to assess a wide variety of credentials and display the authentication results to the Transportation Security Officer (TSO), or other qualified user,” the solicitation document says. “TSA envisions the CAT system as a flexible system that can be deployed in different configurations depending on the needs and constraints of each checkpoint environment.”