The common identification standard for all federal employees and contractors is the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart card, defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201. Virtually every government employee and contractor requiring access for a period of six months or longer is required to obtain, carry and use a PIV card. After many years, nearly all qualified individuals have the card, however everyday use of this electronically verifiable card to obtain both logical and physical access to secured government assets remains a work in progress. Recent GSA and OMB directives have created a host of new challenges for government agencies in accomplishing this vital mission. The good news for these government departments and agencies is that commercial off the shelf (COTS) software platforms and applications now exist that will help resolve these problems.
Below are answers to a few frequently asked questions about the PIV program and how technology is solving some of the complex issues related to managing identities and access privileges across agencies.