OMB eyes central authentication plan

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The Office of Management and Budget last week acted to stem agencies' inconsistent investments in and implementations of authentication technologies.

The Office of Management and Budget last week acted to stem agencies' inconsistent investments in and implementations of authentication technologies.OMB issued a memo asking agencies to freeze projects if possible while the administration settles on a governmentwide approach.'We must have a common way to think about these technologies if you are going to have cross-government authentication,' an OMB official said. 'All of this is new ground for us. Agencies in the past determined their own authentication approach, and we are trying to be more consistent in determining that.'With more than 12 agencies issuing task orders through the General Services Administration's Access Certificates for Electronic Services program, the Defense Department handing out more than 2.5 million smart cards and other agencies running authentication pilots, OMB said a cross-agency approach would save agencies money and promote interoperability.GSA has followed OMB's lead by releasing a draft policy outlining four assurance levels for electronic authorization.'This policy will drive investment decisions in technologies for all agencies,' said Karen Evans, Energy Department CIO and vice chairwoman of the CIO Council. 'This is important for the E-Authentication e-government project because project managers can overlay the policy to their projects and craft longer-term solutions.'For consistency, Mark Forman, OMB's administrator for e-government and IT, has instructed CIOs to refrain 'to the maximum extent possible' from buying authentication or identity management technologies without first getting an OK from the E-Authentication team or the new Federal Identify and Credentialing Committee.OMB recently created the committee to develop policies for credentialing federal employees. Led by Judith Spencer, chairwoman of the Federal Public-Key Infrastructure Steering Committee, the group is made up of IT security, physical security and human resources officials from across government.OMB's limitation on buys will force agencies to decide how quickly they need to fill short-term authentication needs, said G. Martin Wagner, GSA's associate administrator for governmentwide policy.Agencies 'are going to look at decisions they are on the edge of making and try to trade off on the immediate problem they have to solve versus a joint solution' that will come later, Wagner said.In its draft policy guidance on electronic authentication, GSA asked agencies to perform risk assessments for the 25 Quicksilver e-government projects by Oct. 1 and all major systems by Sept. 15, 2004, to determine which assurance levels they will need to apply.GSA said most of the Quicksilver teams have finished their risk assessments and determined the level of assurance they need.'The intent of the policy is first to give federal employees credentials,' Evans said. 'We then can drive technology solutions that will service federal employees because we set up a system to accommodate the level of authentication needed within and between departments.'Forman said agencies will use PKI or PKI with biometric technology, depending on the level of authentication required.The reason agencies should try to consolidate their authentication efforts, Forman said, is that the government expects to spend more than $160 million this year and next on authentication and identity technologies. By combining agencies' efforts, the government can reduce its expenditures and drive down the price it will have to pay for these technologies and services.Plus, inconsistent approaches are hindering agencies' ability to meet the mandate of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, which calls for automating most government transactions by October, he added.OMB has asked agencies to comment on the draft authentication policy and on guidance being created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.The NIST directive will outline the technologies that match the assurance levels. The document is set for release by Oct. 1 and will detail the characteristics of each assurance level and appropriate accompanying security controls.By year's end, OMB plans to select providers to offer credentials and PKI services. Once they are chosen, agencies will need to develop migration strategies for moving to the governmentwide options, Forman said.'Security and authentication are hard,' Wagner said. 'It takes expertise. Agencies doing it on their own is a lot harder than plugging in to something that is vetted and supported.'

GSA details assurance levels

Level 1: Little or no assurance is needed about the identity of the user, such as a citizen logging on to a customized Web page.

Level 2: It is highly probable that the user's identity is accurate, such as a federal employee taking courses through an online education site.

Level 3: There is a high degree of confidence that the user is authentic, such as a lawyer who provides patent data to the Patent and Trademark Office.

Level 4: It is absolutely necessary that the user's identity is accurate, such as a law enforcement official accessing a federal database of criminal records.

GSA's G. Martin Wagner says agencies should adopt a governmentwide PKI approach.

Henrik G. de Gyor





























Bulk savings











NEXT STORY: OS flaws in leading software

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.