CoreStreet releases mobile smart card reader

CoreStreet, a vendor for identity management technology, has released one of the first identity-card readers that comply with U.S. government standards.

The Pivman System, using CoreStreet’s software, is one of the first readers available that complies with the U.S. government’s secure credential Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201), CoreStreet said Tuesday. The Pivman is a handheld device, allowing law enforcement agencies setting up perimeters at disaster sites to check the identities of emergency response workers

“Very few” products work with the FIPS 201 standard, said Phil Libin, CoreStreet’s president and cofounder. The Pivman comes as U.S. government agencies have an Oct. 27 deadline to begin using smart cards as identification for employees and contractors.

U.S. President George Bush in August 2004 signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12) requiring federal agencies to move to electronic-authentication systems for workers and contractors, and the October deadline was set in August 2005.

The Pivman can be used as an entry scanner for buildings as well as a scanner in temporary locations such as disaster sites, Libin said. The devices don’t rely on ongoing network connectivity such as Wi-Fi to authenticate identification cards; instead, they can be synchronized to the authentication database before taken out to the field, he said.

During emergencies, “you can’t rely on having any standard network connectivity back to a server,” Libin said.

If the devices have connectivity, they synchronize every couple of hours, using Wi-Fi or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks.

Users can also have the Pivman System linked up to human resources databases showing employee certifications or training, said CoreStreet. Federal agencies can use the Pivman to screen which employees are trained to respond to field events such as natural disasters, the company said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used the Pivman System in four recent exercises, the company said.

The Pivman System, available immediately, carries a price tag of $25,000 for two handheld devices.