Identive Smart Cards vs. Cyber Attacks

Identive Group, Inc. inked a big contract with a U.S. government agency as its Santa Ana-based company sets to supply 266,000 smart card readers for secure authentication and email encryption. The name of the agency remained undisclosed but the implication of the move shows the seriousness of the U.S. government to protect itself against cyber attacks.

The growing numbers of cyber attacks have compromised security. President Obama had said it is “one of the most serious economic and national security our nation faces.” Just recently, the White House has gathered the top minds and corporate leaders in the U.S. to discuss the major cyber security issues. The strength of cyber security does not rely on one agency alone but cuts across federal government, in partnership with the private sector while engaging the general public in creating a safe and secure cyber environment as well as promote cyber security knowledge and innovation.

“The U.S. government agencies are ahead of the curve in adopting smart card-based security and have a clear understanding of its benefits,” remarked Dr. Manfred Mueller, COO Identification Products for Identive. The agency will be using SCR3310/v2 readers that can work on any OS (Windows, MAC and Linux) and can fit into any USB port of a PC. Through this, government employees can readily and securely log on the agency’s computer network.

“For this agency, the product delivery schedule was quite aggressive and Identive was the only supplier capable of delivering the required volumes in a short time,” continued Mueller. “Once again we have demonstrated why Identive is recognized as a trusted supplier to the U.S. government market.”

The track record of Identive is impressive. In February it acquired Payment Solution AG in Munich, Germany, which expanded Identive’s reach in Europe. Payment Solutions makes software, smart card, readers and related infrastructure needed to support cashless payments. Last year, the $96.3 million in revenues it generated showed a record jump of 206 percent for the last two years. It ranked them third among the list of fastest-growing public companies based in Orange County, California.

Now, with the recent announcement of Identive supplying a federal government with 266,000 smart card readers, the midday New York trading went up to nearly 27 percent with a market value of $75 million. (At the time of publication, valuation dropped this morning to $66.2 million.)

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  government purchasing  |  national security  |  pos authentication  |  RFID  |  security  |  USB flash drive