Smart Card Alliance announces CSCIP/G

 

The Smart Card Alliance has announced an additional smart card certification programme for government identity and security professionals, the Certified Smart Card Industry Professional/Government (CSCIP/G) designation. 

“The use of smart card technology has become a mainstay in the US federal government, securing identities in programmes like the FIPS 201 PIV card for all government employees, the DoD’s Common Access Card, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential and the First Responder Authentication Credential,” says Randy Vanderhoof, executive director, Smart Card Alliance. “We recognised that there is a pressing need for more detailed training about the government smart card market than the present CSCIP programme provided. In response, we developed this intensive curriculum to train government professionals, contractors and security industry experts on the role of smart cards in future rollouts of the government standards for identity management and security technology.”

Part of the Alliance’s Leadership, Education and Advancement Program (LEAP), CSCIP/G is an extension of the Certified Smart Card Industry Professional (CSCIP) designation. The body of industry knowledge covered by the CSCIP/G certification includes the same fundamentals as the CSCIP certification, and adds in-depth content about US government identity credentialing programs and technologies. 

According to the Smart Card Alliance, leading smart card industry professionals have developed the series of educational modules forming the CSCIP/G certification body of knowledge. These educational modules prepare applicants for the CSCIP/G exam administered by the Smart Card Alliance. The CSCIP/G certification exam will cover:

·         Smart card fundamentals;

·         Smart card security features;

·         Smart card application and data management;

·         Smart card usage models;

·         FIPS 201 and common identity, security and privacy requirements ;

·         PIV card, physical attributes, data elements, logical credentials and cryptographic specifications;

·         PIV card issuance and lifecycle;

·         FIPS 201 and biometrics;

·         Assurance levels;

·         Use cases for physical and logical access;

·         Federal PKI infrastructure.

Instructor-led training courses will be held in Washington, DC on 28 June and 16 November prior to the CSCIP/G exams on 29 June and 19 November.