Research In Motion (RIM) announced that the BlackBerry
Smart Card Reader has achieved FIPS 140-2 certification level 3 – the highest
certification achieved by any wireless smart card reader on the market.

Smart cards support security programs like the U.S.
Department of Defense’s Common Access Card (CAC) program and the Homeland
Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) which calls for a mandatory,
government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued
by the federal government to its employees and to the employees of federal
contractors.

FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard)
certifications are assigned by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Our customers value the robust security provided
with BlackBerry products and services and smart card readers are particularly
important within the government sector,” said Scott Totzke, senior vice
president, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion.  

This advanced certification of the BlackBerry Smart Card
Reader for the U.S. Federal Government demonstrates RIM’s ongoing commitment to
meet and exceed the expectations of government customers.

The BlackBerry Smart Card Reader is designed to work with
personal identification cards issued by government organizations or other
high-security organizations.

Users insert a smart card into this lightweight reader
and wear it on a lanyard as a two-factor authentication device for secure
access to BlackBerry smartphones, desktop computers and facilities.

BlackBerry smartphones and desktop computers
automatically lock when the user’s smart card is not in proximity.

FIPS 140-2 level 3 certification of the BlackBerry Smart
Card Reader also verifies advanced security features of the smart card reader
itself, such as tamper evidence and self destruction of critical security
parameters upon device breach.

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]