Trick or treat !?!

It's smart cards for everyone!

David S. Chu, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness will brief at 10:30 a.m. EST, on Nov. 1 in the DoD Briefing Studio, Pentagon 2E579, to provide a brief on the Next Generation Common Access Card.

Woo hoo!

At the Air Force Times, they say:

The Pentagon will begin issuing millions of “next generation” common access cards to every service member starting in late October in an effort to heighten the effectiveness and security of the cards, make them more interoperable and allow them to be more useful in more places.

The cards will come in different colors for different populations of people, including green and red. They’ll contain bar codes, computer chips and magnetic strips — all very high-tech.

You'll like this next part:

it is what’s under the hood that really distinguishes this card from the existing CAC, Dixon said. The new cards have been re-engineered with a “contactless” capability that will allow them to be used like a subway card in that people can wave them over card readers at a distance of up to about four inches, Dixon said.

That capability could raise concern that personal data could be removed from the card, but Dixon said the chip within the card and the card’s magnetic strip are encrypted, making the data almost impossible to remove.

Oh, okay!

If you're looking for product info, check your trusty PR News Wire:

ActivIdentity Corp., a global leader in digital identity assurance, today announced major contract wins by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The company's smart card desktop client software ActivIdentity ActivClient 6.0 was selected to enable their move to next-generation HSPD-12 certified Common Access Cards due to be put in place by October 27, 2006.

It goes on:

The rapidly approaching October 27, 2006 deadline for HSPD-12 mandates government agencies to deploy FIPS 201-certified Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart identification cards, which incorporate identity assurance and strong authentication practices utilizing PKI and biometric fingerprint credentials on a single cryptographic smart card for increased security of both facility and network access.

Soon you'll be able to check your voice mail and email at the turnstile.

Some of the data to be placed on the cards include an individual’s name, gender, card expiration date, blood type, government agency and branch of service, duty status, pay grade, date of birth and other information.

The chip also will include two encrypted fingerprints. The magnetic strip will include an individual’s Social Security number and "physical security information."