NIST advocates smarter policies on smart cards

• By William Jackson
• Apr 30, 2004

Technical standards in the rapidly evolving smart-card industry fall short in the areas of security and interoperability. But the real barrier to wide-scale use is policy conflict, according to a recent government report.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology examined the gap between government smart-card requirements and current capabilities.

'There appears to be no consensus from the user community for additional technical standards,' the NIST report concluded.

Its contributors, however, said more policy-related standards and regulations are essential to true interoperability and efficient integration.

'Although building blocks are in place to support interoperable, secure identification systems, management and policy decisions limit the opportunities for interoperability,' NIST found.

To read the complete NIST report, go to www.gcn.com and enter 237 in the GCN.com/search box.