CertiPath Introduces Federated Architecture For Physical Access Control

Demonstrates Viability of a One-Credential System for Cross-Organizational
Access

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major breakthrough to the
challenges of managing identity and access control in highly sensitive
environments, CertiPath, the trusted credentialing authority for aviation,
aerospace and defense (A&D) organizations, today introduced architecture and
operational systems for federated physical access control (PACS), leveraging
high-assurance credentials. The concept demonstrates the viability and
effectiveness of a single-credential system that can provide secure access for
both physical and logical assets, and provide interoperability for employees,
customers and partners.

Funded in part by the General Services Administration, which operates the U.S.
Federal Bridge for inter-agency information sharing, CertiPath was tapped to
design and oversee the implementation of a system that could overcome today's
fragmented, expensive and vulnerable approaches to managing physical and
logical identity authentication and access control.

CertiPath's converged architecture eliminates the need to physically issue
visitor passes and allows certainty that each visitor is still employed and in
good standing with their employer. The system extends the proven value of
PKI-based security systems for managing and assuring logical access control to
the challenges of managing and assuring physical access control.

CertiPath's architecture conforms to the principles of NIST SP 800-116 and
delivers the most advanced identity and access control at the lowest total
cost by
-- Leveraging PIV, PIV-I , and Dept. of Defense CAC credentials issued by
any valid issuer, as well as TWIC (Transportation Workers Identity
Credentials)
-- Utilizing FIPS 201-certified (or in process) components
-- Allowing customers to upgrade PACS without replacing existing systems
-- Leveraging commercially available products to minimize custom
solutions
that are expensive to maintain
-- Leveraging the U.S. Federal Bridge to validate inter-agency trust

-- Delivering cost effective options to operate at one or multiple
assurance levels (e.g., 'controlled' areas card-auth only)

Real-World Implementation at Work Today
The result - the first commercially available integrated platform that manages
visitors' physical and logical access via their own organization's issued
credentials - was installed and is in production at Exostar, the leading
provider of collaboration solutions for the world's largest A&D manufacturers
and their 40,000 supply chain partners.

In the past, a visitor pass had to be issued for every single non-employee to
enter the premises, and the visitor required an escort. Today, visitors can
use a single enterprise-issued smartcard credential with an embedded chip
containing digital certificates to enter the building.

"We believe this system demonstrates the real value of an environment where
visitors' physical and logical access is controlled via an integrated
approach," said Steve Howard, vice president of operations for CertiPath.
"It's a major step forward in overcoming the challenges of risk, scalability,
and accountability to protect assets - both virtual and real - from breaches,
whether malicious or accidental."

About CertiPath
CertiPath provides the aerospace and defense industry's only public key
infrastructure (PKI)-based communications bridge where information can be
shared widely, securely, effectively and affordably between partners,
suppliers and customers - regardless of the size and scope of the supply
chain.

CertiPath's disruptive solution tears down the burdensome and costly company,
employee and program-centric approaches to identity assurance. Today,
organizations in the U.S., U.K. and Europe including Boeing, BAE Systems,
EADS, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and the U.S. Federal Bridge
(FBCA) are members of this fast-growing community. For more information,
visit CertiPath on the web at http://www.certipath.com

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered
owners.

SOURCE CertiPath

CertiPath Company Contact: Alison Kidd, +1-703-793-7871,
Alison.kidd@certipath.com; Media Contact: Rachel Round, +1-617-969-9192,
rround@corporateink.com