HID Global announced a solution for government agencies interested in securing iOS devices with access to sensitive data.

The solution combines the ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS with two sleeves from Precise Biometrics: the Tactivo iPhone sleeve and the Tactivo iPad sleeve. This solution enables government agencies of all kinds to use their Common Access Card (CAC) or Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards to secure communications and access to sensitive information by encrypting it through standard PKI encryption methods.

“The massive popularity of iOS devices has completely changed the way organizations of all types, including government, approach how these devices access information,” said Thomas Marschall, Precise Biometrics president & CEO. “Our solution with HID Global takes a pragmatic approach to the problem, ensuring that the CAC and PIV cards already in use can now secure the mobile devices government employees are already using.”

For government agencies interested in deploying a more integrated solution, HID Global offers a solution leveraging ‘derived credentials’, a concept recently introduced in the FIPS 201-2 PIV standard, which is currently in draft form.

The integrated approach taken by HID Global applies the ‘derived credential’ to a secure microSD card, a secure element with the same cryptographic services as the CAC or PIV smart card. This microSD format can be connected to iPhones with a sleeve. This approach brings both significantly increased convenience and security to the iPhone BYOD scenarios.

The ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS enables application developers and government entities to deliver two-factor authentication, signature and decryption technologies for all iOS devices, including iPhone and iPad. These devices have led the charge in the BYOD phenomenon, causing a shift in the way government employees access their corporate email and other resources.

The Precise Biometrics Tactivo Smart Card and Fingerprint Reader enables multi-factor authentication on iPad and iPhone, supporting U.S. government credentials including PIV, PIV-I, CAC and TWIC, as well as the Precise Match-on-Card credentials used in many national IDs.

As a smart casing that slips easily over the device, Tactivo makes security convenient and easy to use; pass-through charging and synchronization and a slim design mean users don’t have to remove the casing for regular, daily use. Tactivo for iPad was also designed to accommodate the popular iPad Smart Cover.

ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS provides a layer of middleware that connects strong two-factor authentication credentials to applications and encrypted ‘containers’ running secure application stacks on the mobile device.

ActivClient SDK supports a previously unseen standard of secure BYOD usage by enabling the benefits of pervasive smart mobile devices, with reasonable and responsible enterprise policy enforcement for even for the most security-minded enterprise and government organizations.