vol. XVII no. 2

				Page 2 Page 1 2 3 4 FROM DEFENSE TO BANKING Since 9/11, awareness of our need for security is heightened. This relatively new industry is expanding as the federal government, financial institutions and health care - all enterprises with sensitive databases - are turning to emerging and innovative technologies. Among ActivCard's U.S. government clients are the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense (DoD). ActivCard has enterprise clients around the globe, including a few new clients such as British Telecom of the U.K., Heidelberger of Germany and Monsanto of the United States. In fact, the DoD offers the world's largest and most sophisticated deployment of multifunction smart cards through its Common Access Card (CAC) program. The CAC program began in response to federal mandates to improve overall network security and streamline business processes. The 4.3 million employees of the DoD, including active-duty soldiers, Guard and Reserve volunteers, and civilians, use the CAC to authenticate identity, to sign onto e-mail or computer programs, for encryption of confidential e-mail communications and to retrieve demographic data. In addition, a Marine Corps program is using the cards to track weapons issued by armories. The Air Force is piloting an authentication program that combines biometric technology to read fingerprints with smart card technology from ActivCard. The Navy's use of smart cards gives sailors access to its intranet and allows them to load money on the cards for use as an e-purse while on the seas. The Army's 25th Infantry Division in Oahu, Hawaii, uses smart cards to determine deployment readiness. By having the information available and readily verifiable on their CACs, soldiers can complete the process in a few minutes rather than the traditional day-long wait. The DoD estimates the Oahu-based infantry saves 30,000 man-hours per year using smart cards. Barnes predicts smart card technology will become popular with U.S. financial institutions, too. Already the standard in Europe, smart card technology is required on all MasterCard and Visa credit cards there. Smart cards are so common that simple consumer payment transactions, like the use of public telephones, are smart card compliant. European banks also require smart cards to enter accounts from remote locations. In the United States, by contrast, banks still rely heavily on magnetic stripe technology. U.S. businesses have invested in extensive online mainframe-based computer networks for verification. "When identity theft has made enough headlines," Barnes says, "U.S. banks will wise up and this technology will become even hotter." Previous Page | Top | Next Page

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