US Air Force seeks sole source SIPRNet biometric access solution for nuke base

The United States Air Force 5^th Contracting Squadron at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota has issued a justification for soliciting from Finksburg, Maryland-based Trusted Systems a “solution for accessing the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) using a biometric system so that computers remain in a locked safe at all times, but are still accessible to the user.”

SIPRNet is the classified system that’s used by the US Department of Defense and Department of State to transmit classified information at the Confidential and Secret levels.

Due to the classified nature of the biometric solution that’s being sought by the 5th Contracting Squadron, the entity that will be using it is not identified.

The 5th Contracting Squadron, or 5 CONS, provides contracting and procurement support for the military units that are assigned to Minot AFB, one of which is the 91st Missile Wing, which is responsible for 150 Minuteman III nuclear Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), 15 missile alert facilities, and 150 remote launch facilities. Also located at Minot AFB is the 5^th Bomb Wing, which maintains and flies the B-51H Stratofortress intercontinental bomber.

The 5 CONS solicitation says that the “supplies required are one biometric control unit, one gateway module per laptop (remotely turned on and off by the biometric control unit), and the cables required to connect everything,” and must meet all requirements as established by the Defense Information Systems Agency for physical security.

The solicitation says the system that’s being sought “allows a more secure solution to access the secret network, and it also provides ease of access to the user, while ensuring the computer systems stays up to date and patched at all times. Trusted Systems can provide this technical solution via their SIPRGuard product.

Trusted Systems’ SIPRGuard streamlines network access from users’ desktop without compromising security, convenience, or performance, the company says, and uses two-factor (PIN & fingerprint) authentication to connect the desktop environment to network equipment mounted inside a Trusted Systems IPS Container.  This authentication precedes and is in addition to the normal SIPR token login without the need to open the IPS Container.

Trusted Systems also provides secure access products to the US military for the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System (JWICS) which is used to transmit Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint recognition  |  government purchasing  |  SIPRNet  |  Trusted Systems  |  U.S. Air Force  |  U.S. Government