SCM and Hirsch ink global deal

 

Hirsch Electronics has signed an exclusive global agreement with SCM Microsystems to provide SCM’s Physical Access Control Terminals (PACT) series physical access readers to the open market. The SCM PACT readers are designed specifically for US Department of Defense (DoD) sites.

The US Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) FIPS 201 standard mandated the introduction of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards which would be interoperable across all government agencies, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, at home and overseas. A systems solution was required that would support both the existing deployed Common Access Cards (CAC I) as well as the new contact/contactless CAC II cards.   

“SCM Microsystems has provided significant volumes of logical access readers for the DoD, and we developed a series of physical access readers as well, based on our experience with the government market,” says Manfred Mueller, SCM executive vice president, strategic business development and sales. “To bring the units to market effectively, SCM needed a global distribution partner with a proven track record securing DoD facilities. In Hirsch we found the ideal partner to accomplish this.”

“Many DoD and government agencies using CAC and/or GSC contact-only credentials are actively procuring and installing FIPS 201-compliant readers for retrofits, new installations and pilots,” says Kevin Reyes, Hirsch manager of strategic technology partnerships. “The Hirsch partnership with SCM ensures that the industry has a ready source of supply for multi-technology readers that enable a graceful migration path for the move from CAC I cards to FIPS 201-based credentials such as CAC II, PIV and TWIC.”

 Lars Suneborn, Hirsch director of government programs, says: “Hirsch is installing PIV-compliant physical access control systems (PACS) at many government agencies and military facilities today. SCM’s PACT series readers have proven to be excellent government credential readers capable of providing the GSA 75-bit format for PIV, while concurrently reading the CAC family. They are ideal migration readers for the DoD. And the support for additional card types, such as TWIC, MIFARE, DESfire and GSC, makes the readers an excellent solution for the simultaneous handling of employees plus visitors and other non-government credentialed personnel.” 

The SCM PACT series smart card readers will go on sale straight away and are available to all industry manufacturers and integrators worldwide.