PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Feb. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Secure Technology Alliance’s Access Control, Identity and Internet of Things Security Councils found great success in 2018 promoting best practices and adoption of secure technology for better privacy and security across a number of markets.

“The councils are an important part of the overall structure of the Alliance, driving change in specified market segments that need secure technology,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Secure Technology Alliance. “They have made significant progress in 2018, producing invaluable resources and advancing widespread adoption of technology that ensures privacy and safety surrounding mobile identity, physical access control and connected devices.”

Access Control Council
The Access Control Council’s mission is to accelerate the widespread usage of secure technologies in various form factors for physical and local access control.

The council pursued a government-focused initiative in 2018 to support implementations of physical and logical access control systems. Over the past year the council produced the “How to Plan, Procure and Deploy a PIV-Enabled Physical Access Control System” webinar series, provided comments on NIST and OMB documents, and collaborated with General Services Administration (GSA) on a PACS playbook and physical access control industry presentations.

In 2019, the Access Control Council will continue to focus on the use of strong identity credentials for secure authentication to physical and logical access systems in government and commercial applications. The council is currently developing a guidebook to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-116 R1 with industry recommendations for the use of PIV credentials in facility access.

“The Secure Technology Alliance Access Control Council plays an extremely important role in allowing industry to speak to Government with a greater authority and respect than any one person would have,” said Adam Shane, council chair and principal solution architect at Leidos. “The GSA, NIST, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and countless other agencies have all responded to feedback from the Access Control Council, and we expect to make just as big an impact in 2019.”

Identity Council
The Identity Council aims to raise awareness and provide thought leadership and education on real-world issues implementing and operating identity and identity authentication and authorization systems.

In 2018, the council expanded their mobile identity landscape initiative, producing a four-part webinar series on use cases for identity on a mobile device: airport passenger experience and identity proofing in higher education; driver’s licenses and derived PIV credentials; physical and logical access control; healthcare, banking and transportation payment.

In 2019, the council is electing a new steering committee and officers and plans to continue their mobile identity landscape project. Further discussion will involve the use of standards-based identity credentials within and across several vertical markets.

“The Identity Council is moving from a vertical focus to a horizontal portfolio of tangible, necessary, and real market efforts of relevance,” said Tom Lockwood, council chair and business development at NextgenID. “The council is partnering internally and externally to promote application and adoption of value-added capabilities, to address community challenges and priorities, and to raise market awareness. We have a strong 2019-2020 program roadmap including major conferences, special reviews, and strategic efforts for the benefit our community and the market at large.”

Internet of Things Council
The Internet of Things Security Council develops best practices and promotes the implementation of secure IoT architectures using embedded security and privacy.

The council focused its activities in 2018 on education and outreach, hosting a panel and “IoT Security: Mitigating Security Risks in Secure Connected Environments” webinar, as well as providing comments to NIST on IoT security and privacy considerations. Its focus in 2019 will be to provide education resources on best practices for securing IoT ecosystems.

“Security for the Internet of Things is a top of mind issue for the entire IoT ecosystem – including and not limited to device makers, solution providers and systems integrators. The IoT Security Council did a phenomenal job of educating the players involved, putting together best practices and creating the right partnerships to collectively solve highlight security problems and potential solutions,” said Sridhar Ramachandran, IoT Security Council Chair and vice president of IoT Solutions at G+D Mobile Security. “With the growing number of connected devices expected in the coming year, the council has an exciting plan to develop materials to educate and underscore key areas of IoT Security.”

For continuing updates on the Secure Technology Alliance, visit  www.securetechalliance.org and follow @SecureTechOrg on Twitter.

About the Secure Technology Alliance
The Secure Technology Alliance is the digital security industry’s premier association. The Alliance brings together leading providers and adopters of end-to-end security solutions designed to protect privacy and digital assets in payments, mobile, identity and access, healthcare, transportation and the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) markets.

The Alliance’s mission is to stimulate understanding, adoption and widespread application of connected digital solutions based on secure chip and other technologies and systems needed to protect data, enable secure authentication and facilitate commerce.

The Alliance is driven by its U.S.-focused member companies. They collaborate by sharing expertise and industry best practices through industry and technology councils, focused events, educational resources, industry outreach, advocacy, training and certification programs. Through participation in the breadth of Alliance activities, members strengthen personal and organizational networks and take away the insights to build the business strategies needed to commercialize secure products and services in this dynamic environment.

For more information, please visit www.securetechalliance.org.

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