Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 201 is a United States Federal standard that specifies Personal Identity Verification (PIV) requirements for Federal employees and contractors. The standard was drawn up by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Division in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12).
The OMNIKEY CardMan® 3121 desktop smart card reader is thus approved for use by US Federal Agencies and contractors for the deployment of secure identification and authentication solutions as required by HSPD-12. Approval by the US Government's FIPS 201 Evaluation Program underscores the reputation for high quality, speed and reliability of OMNIKEY's smart card readers, already proven in numerous projects. This FIPS 201 approval, along with those that will soon follow for OMNIKEY's broad range of PC-linked smart card readers, represent a strategic factor for further growth in the United States. In fact, the FIPS 201 directive is the driving force behind smart card adoption in the US, as Federal agencies, but also a large number of Federal contractors, rush to comply with the US
Government's policies for secure physical and logical access.
At the moment, the US PIV program represents the largest smart card project in the United States. The Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board has indicated that to comply with FIPS 201 PIV II program, US Government agencies should use smart card technology.
The FIPS 201 specification signals a significant change in how the US Federal Government manages physical access control and information security.
One of the key topics of the directive is the convergence of physical access to buildings and logical access to IT networks. OMNIKEY identified this trend early on and has developed a broad portfolio of PC-linked contact and contactless smart card readers ideally suited for the convergent security solutions of the future.