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Bioscrypt Knowledge Bank

Learn more about biometric trends from our growing list of resources, including White Papers, Case Studies, Video Demonstrations, and more.

Topics include:

Airport Security
HSPD-12
Biometric Innovations
3D Face Recognition
Fingerprint Sensor Interoperability

NEW: 3D Face – Texas Instruments Dev Day Demo (10 min)

Industries > Government Access Control > FIPS 201

FIPS 201 - Authenticating Government Employees & Contractors through Biometrics

In 2004 the United States Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) was published which set forth broad goals for access control and identity management of government employees and contractors. In response to the goals of HSPD-12, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed the Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201).

The United States General Service Administration's (GSA) mission is to "help federal agencies better serve the public by offering, at best value, superior workplaces, expert solutions, acquisition services and management policies." GSA consists of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), the Public Buildings Service (PBS), and various Staff Offices, including the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (OCIA). Eleven regional offices extend GSA's outreach to federal customers nationwide.

GSA administers the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program. The Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201) requires all government agencies and contractors to authenticate civil servants and employees using stronger authentication methods, including fingerprint biometrics, for physical and logical access control.

The above information has been extrapolated from the GSA Website,click here for more information about the administration.

The Bioscrypt Advantage

Bioscrypt's fingerprint biometric algorithms are qualified by the GSA for use in the United States government's Personal Identity Verification (PIV) program. The Bioscrypt algorithm is qualified both for use as a generator in PIV issuance system and as a matcher for physical and logical verification systems. With the GSA listing, Bioscrypt's fingerprint algorithms are now qualified to be used to create the ANSI 378 templates required for PIV card issuance and for cardholder verification.

In order to meet the FIPS 201 standard, Bioscrypt ported its FIPS 201-approved Minutiae Interoperability Exchange (MINEX) algorithm to a high performance digital signal processor (DSP) from Texas Instruments which is embedded in the reader. The inclusion of the DSP also allows the PIV-Station to be extremely flexible and extensible to accommodate current and future technical specifications for the evolving federal programs.

For more information on how Bioscrypt can help in the government market, contact us. For more information on United States government credentialing programs, view and download Bioscrypt's white paper, "Understanding HSPD-12 Biometric Identification Requirements."

Related FIPS and FIPS Aligned Programs: