[September 23, 2008]

Smart Card Alliance Identity Council Raises Awareness of Security and Privacy in Government and Enterprise Identity Initiatives

(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, September 23 / MARKET WIRE/ --

The Smart Card Alliance Identity
Council raised awareness of the security issues surrounding citizen-facing
U.S. government identity initiatives last year, including enhanced driver's licenses and border crossing documents.

The Council today announced new officers and steering committee, last
year's accomplishments, and upcoming projects.

"The Identity Council has been successful this year in pinpointing threats
to identity security, and showing how the correctly chosen technology can
solve these issues," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart
Card Alliance.

The Identity Council was active in developing educational resources
describing the benefits that smart card technology can bring to states for
improved security and cost-efficiency in the delivery of state-operated
programs, such as driver's licenses that comply with the REAL ID Act. These benefits were outlined in the white

paper, "Smart Card Technology: The Right Choice for REAL ID," published
last January. Additionally, the Council reached out to state governors
about the technology choices for enhanced driver's licenses, and held a
congressional briefing on the topic.

The Identity Council also reviewed the technology for border crossing
identity documents and published the white paper, "The Consequences to
Citizen Privacy and National Security in Adopting RFID Technology for
Border Crossing Identity Documents" in October 2007.

"The Identity Council provides educational material that helps
organizations select the appropriate technology for new identity
initiatives in order to protect individuals' identities and private
information," said newly elected Chair Stephen P. Howard, Thales
e-Security. "Recent data breaches illustrate that the proper use of
technology to secure identities is important in both enterprises and
government."

This year Council projects include developing white papers that discuss how
the U.S. government's Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201
can be used as the model for enterprise identity programs and emergency
response official credentialing programs and publishing case studies
showcasing organizations that have implemented secure identity systems with
smart card technology.

The Identity Council is made up of more than 90 individuals from 49 end
user, chip vendor, systems integrator, card vendor, biometrics provider,
identity system and software vendor organizations. Newly elected new
officers and steering committee are:

Officers:

-- Chair: Stephen P. Howard, Thales e-Security
-- Vice chair: Patrick Hearn, Oberthur Technologies
-- Secretary: Salvatore D'Agostino, IDmachines

Steering Committee:

-- Edward Clay, Sun Microsystems
-- Bryan Ichikawa, Unisys
-- John McKeon, IBM
-- Neville Pattinson, Gemalto
-- James Sheire, NXP Semiconductors
-- Chris Williams, SAIC

Government smart card identity and security initiatives will be explored
further at the 7th Annual Smart Cards in Government Conference, held
October 22 - 24, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade
Center in downtown Washington, D.C. Register for the conference by visiting
the Smart Cards in Government Web site.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association
working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread
application of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research,
advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its
members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance
is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion
on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For
more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

Contact:
Deb Montner
Montner & Associates
203-226-9290dmontner@montner.com

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