VA secures veterans' records, identities
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to install identity and access management solutions.
The Veterans Affairs Department will use Islandia, N.Y.-based CA's identity and access management solutions to support the majority of the department's identity management and access management needs.
The solutions, provided by Denver-based Merlin International, will allow the agency to provide secure delivery and access to Web-based applications, enhance veteran access to benefit and health information, improve regulatory compliance, improve interagency collaboration, and enhance overall agency security.
'VA has millions of unique identities to manage ' from its employees to veterans,' said Joe Page, senior vice president of public-sector sales from CA. 'Its range of services, including health care and benefits for veterans, relies on the safety of data as well as a need to share personally identifiable information with other agencies.'
The solutions will enable the agency to use e-Authentication, a method of government identity authentication; verify proper access to information; protect data and simplify internal systems.
Additionally, the solutions will enhance compliance with the following government regulations: the Federal Information Security Act of 2002 (FISMA), developed to bolster computer and network security in the federal government; Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), created for common identification standards for federal employees and contracts; and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which includes national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans and employers.
Specifically, the department will use the following CA products: CA SiteMinder; CA Identity Manager; CA Enterprise Single Sign On; CA Federation Security Services; CA Access Control; CA Directory; and CA SOA Security Manager with XML Gateway.
The VA serves approximately 60 million veterans and their family members. With more than 230,000 employees, 153 medical centers and 800 community-based outpatient centers, the department is the largest direct health care delivery system in the U.S.
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