Mathew Burt, area sales manager, UKI & Nordics – Secure Issuance, HID Global, writes on how to improve card issuance security and efficiency through multi-layered identity validation and system management.
When it comes to improving smart card issuance in the enterprise, one of the first items to consider is how to deliver the appropriate level of card, card-holder and system issuance security, up to and including deploying multi-layered identity validation and system management capabilities. Next, consider next-generation personalisation processes, including inline smart card solutions that reduce these many processes to a single step. There are a number of best practices that can be followed in each of these areas.
In the first instance, optimal access card security requires a multi-dimensional approach for identity validation, and a multi-layered approach for the systems that are used to issue them. Most ID card issuance systems rely on two-dimensional identity validation, which compares the person presenting credentials with a variety of identifying data that is displayed on the card. The industry has evolved beyond a simple photo ID to include sophisticated elements that provide more trustworthy visual authentication while acting as deterrents against tampering and forgery. These elements include higher-resolution images, holographic card over-laminates, and laser-engraved permanent personalisation attributes on the cards that make forgery and alteration virtually impossible. Digital components, such as smart card chips or magnetic stripes, add a third security dimension.
Routine synchronisation of pre-programmed data on a smart card’s electronics, with the personal data printed on the card, is also important for proper identity management. To do this, organisations have typically used a desktop card printer to add colour and text to a card’s exterior. Once complete, the card was extracted from the printer’s output bin, and the pre-printed/pre-programmed ID number was manually transferred to the cardholder’s record in a computer database. As such, the personalisation process was a time-consuming, two-stage affair which increased the potential for keying errors.
These problems have now been solved. Today’s inline smart card personalisation solutions reduce the aforementioned tasks to a single step. As a result, users can simply submit a card into a desktop printer equipped with an internal smart card encoder and the card is seamlessly personalised, inside and out. All of the personal data in the employee record, like a photograph, name and ID number, is automatically updated in the database to include the unique card ID number that was pre-programmed into the contactless card, rather than pre-printed onto the card’s surface.
In addition to protecting cards and cardholders in this way, it is important to optimise the integrity of the overall issuance system through a multi-layered approach. The first system security layer should limit unauthorised operator access to physical components. Electronic security is a critical second layer. Ideally, operator access to each printer is controlled via personal identification numbers (PINs), and print job data packets should meet or exceed advanced encryption standards to ensure system privacy, integrity and authentication to the final issuance endpoint. The third layer is to ensure automatic elimination of personal data on used print ribbon panels. Some card printers also include integrated sensors so that only authorised printers can use custom print ribbons and holographic card over-laminates.
Together, the combination of multi-dimensional card security with multi-layered issuance system security and improved synchronisation processes provides the best available defence against tampering, forgery and other fraudulent acts. HID Global’s latest generation of printers with in-built encoder capabilities enables any organisation to follow these best practices. In doing so, an organisation can cost-effectively raise the security of its credentials and issuance systems to the highest standards.
