identity authentication

Rather than, for example, build a new system to capture photographs of possible improvised explosive devices for analysis with dedicated hardware and software, "they can leverage a mobile device that will take that picture and send it back to the server, and all [the Marines on patrol] are focused on is the application," said Capt. Josh Dixon, project officer for technology transition within the Marine Corps Systems Command.

Given the array of digital credential providers and agencies' unique business requirements there are no uniform methods for revoking credentials or their associated attributes, finds a recently-published National Institute of Standards and Technology interagency report (.pdf).

The Internal Revenue Service's efforts to upgrade its systems to use SmartID cards are 22 months behind schedule, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report (.pdf) dated Sept. 28 but only released publicly Nov. 15. The delays have also been costly. The IRS acquired products are compliant with technical specifications, however, two acquired software licenses went unused.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded Sept. 20 five pilot projects worth more than $9 million in grant funding to demonstrate identity solutions under the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC . "The awardees actually came in with specific proposals to take that product and work with a number of partners to actually deploy it," said Jeremy Grant, head of the NSTIC National Program Office.