Pentagon unveils smart identification cards with tiny computer for personnel

By D. IAN HOPPER
AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON – Not content with their electronic weapons, vehicles and communications gadgets, U.S. soldiers are now getting computerized "smart card" IDs, to log into their computers and open locked doors.

The cards, which include a bar code, circuit chip and magnetic stripe to store personal information about the holder, were unveiled by the Pentagon Monday. About 4 million troops, civilian employees and contractors will receive them by the end of next year, officials said.

While the computers on the cards hold a fraction of the data stored in a desktop computer, perosnnel will be able to use the cards for checking out weapons, buying food on base and digitally encrypting their e-mail.

"It is their passport to the electronic world," Defense personnel chief David S.C. Chu said after receiving his card.

Through the Internet at more than 900 issuance sites worldwide, a soldier gets his digital picture taken and his fingerprint stored and picks a personal identification number. In about 10 to 15 minutes, he gets his card.

John P. Stenbit, the Pentagon's chief information officer, said the card will help solve the "hurry-up-and-wait" syndrome in the military, where paperwork can bog down processes.

Once the loss of a card is reported, officials said, the digital signatures will be deactivated and the employee will get a new card. The smart cards cost the government about $8 each.

The cards also offer an added security benefit in case of an attack similar to the Pentagon crash.

"It's not just 'gee, that's really neat,"' Stenbit said, "but if you have an incident, you can tell who's gotten out of the building and who's still stuck in there."

At a computer terminal, soldiers will swipe the card and type in their numerical password. The password provides an extra level of security.

"There is something she has and something she knows," said Rob Cobb, a software developer at military contractor Electronic Data Systems. "It's an important separation."

There are about 3 billion smart cards worldwide, according to industry analyst Frost & Sullivan, but the vast majority are tiny cards used inside cellular phones on the network most common to Europe. Smart cards are also used extensively in South Africa and Argentina.

Credit-card-sized smart cards have taken longer to catch on in the United States. Some large companies, like Sun Microsystems, use them for employee identification. Perhaps the best-known smart card is the "Blue" credit card by American Express.

The slow pace is partly due to privacy concerns. The military is also worried about packing too much information into the card.

There is little encoded on the smart chip – like a fingerprint – that isn't visible on the card's face. There's only so much that can be stored in the chip's tiny memory, as well.

"There's a very limited amount of intrusion into anyone's privacy," Stenbit said.

While officials are considering whether to encode medical data onto the cards, that step is far off.

"That's a more complex subject," Chu said.

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On the Net:

Defense: www.defenselink.mil

Electronic Data Systems: www.eds.com

Schlumberger Sema: www.slb.com

APNP-10-30-01 0855CST