NIST issues draft of ID guides

SP 800-79: Guidelines for the Certification and Accreditation of PIV Card Issuing Organizations

Guidelines for certifying and accrediting organizations that will issue Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards under a new federal credentialing program are now available in draft form for public comment, officials announced today.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology produced the draft guidelines as required under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, which specifies that only organizations whose reliability has been accredited may issue PIV cards to federal employees and contractors.

Federal agencies would follow the guidelines in planning and designing their card-issuing procedures. They would also use them later to self-accredit their procedures, NIST officials said.

Comments on the guidelines, NIST Special Publication 800-79, can be submitted to PIVaccreditation@nist.gov by July 10.