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CardSmart Developing Applications for Smart Card
The U.S. Patent and Trade Office will begin testing in the next couple of weeks a smart card for secure remote login into the agency's computer network. The card will have a dual-interface microprocessor chip so that it also can be used to pay for fares on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority's subway and bus lines, says Jim Schoening, program manager for the General Services Administration's Center for Smart Card Solutions. "The agency's employees receive a Metro subsidy, which they can now load onto their smart card," he says. Between 50 to 75 cards will be issued for the pilot to the agency's employees who work from home, says Schoening. Potentially the program could grow to 1,500 cards. The card will store digital certificates for verifying the person's identity when logging onto the network, and for digitally signing and encrypting electronic documents, he says. In the future, the agency hopes to add a biometric identifier to the card as well, says Schoening. (CardTechnology)
