Defense group to get ID middleware

Defense Financing and Accounting Service Web site

A California company has been hired to provide software so the Defense Financing and Accounting Service can use the high-tech features of its identification cards.

SSP-Litronic of Irvine, Calif., will provide the organization with 23,000 software licenses for so-called Common Access Cards (CAC), the Defense Department's new ID cards with smart card technology and biometric security. When DOD deploys the necessary software, the cards will not only provide access to installations, but workstations and networks as well.

The contract was announced today. Its value was not immediately disclosed.

Although the cards are now used for identification departmentwide, individual Defense agencies choose their own software for utilizing the cards' tech-based security features. The financing service will use SSP-Litronic's NetSign CAC, a smart card-based solution that manages digital identities and signs, encrypts e-mail messages and provides secure access to information technology systems.

For many Defense workers, the card serves only as a visual identification card because their duty station or office might not have the software needed for more advanced functions. But companies like SSP-Litronic can benefit as more agencies install those applications, said Jim Prohaska, vice president of business development.

In addition to the financing service contract, SSP-Litronic does IT work for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Defense Contracting Management Agency and a number of "other three-letter agencies" in the federal government, according to Prohaska.