AKO may start carding this summer
Hardware issues could delay plan
By Kelly Kennedy
Times staff writer
All soldiers and other Army Knowledge Online users will have to swipe a Common Access Card through a reader before gaining access to the system, under a new Army mandate.
The system is to be in place this summer, but there are several hurdles that could set back the start date:
• The Reserve and National Guard face challenges in getting their equipment set up.
• Army officials have yet to figure out how home users, retirees and family members will keep their AKO access without hardware or new cards.
• All AKO users were issued personal identification numbers with their access cards, and the odds are good that many people will have forgotten them when they try to log on to the system.
In addition, the Government Accountability Office released a report March 4 that concludes that all federal agencies may have problems making their card systems compatible with one another, that the agencies need more guidance in finding reliable and cost-effective card equipment, and that including a fingerprint in the card for security reasons could mean card readers will take up to 30 seconds to process each card.
“The deadline is set for summer, but it could be pushed back if they’re not ready,” said Alisa Petitt, CAC division outreach spokeswoman for Maden Technologies, the project contractor. “It’s all being tested and vetted.”
In 2004, President Bush mandated that every federal employee and contractor have a personal identification verification card as part of homeland security measures. By October, every Defense Department employee will have a CAC, which contains a computer chip that allows entry into buildings and, for members of the military, will be embedded with promotion information and other service-related data. Eventually, each card will contain the owner’s fingerprint, Petitt said.
AKO users will be able to send secure e-mail and better protect their computer systems against viruses and spyware. Newer cards with a 64-kilobyte chip — double the capacity of the first CACs — will be issued as older cards expire.
The cards and PINs will make it much more difficult for someone to log in under a false name or access the system through spyware, Petitt said.
“It’s all about security,” she said.
Defense Department officials decided in 2003 that all official e-mails had to be digitally signed using the CAC, then sent out 800,000 card-reading devices over 18 months. Units were responsible for installing their own equipment, and in 2004 and 2005, the Army trained 5,900 people on how to install hardware and use the card reader.
Petitt said she didn’t know exact numbers or costs for the program, but 3.6 million cards at a cost of $8 each have been issued to active-duty soldiers, contractors, civilian employees, reservists and Guard members. At least 2 million card readers have been installed for computers and in places such as mess halls.
But National Guard and Reserve units have been slow to install the new equipment, Petitt said. She said she did not know how many units still needed to install card readers. Meanwhile, much of the equipment that has been issued needs upgrades, and no one is sure how much new hardware needs to be reissued, Petitt said.
“The equipment is out there,” Petitt said, “but it may be lacking the upgraded middleware.”
A handbook has been created for Guard and Reserve public information personnel to help units figure out if they have updated equipment.
Petitt said that Army officials have not worked out how to provide AKO access to retirees, family members and people using home computers. They face two problems: People do not have card readers at home, and family members and retirees won’t be issued the necessary access cards.
To counter those problems, Petitt said contractors are looking at ways to provide access through civilian systems, such as cable television lines, in a secure way, as well as making the card readers available for private computers.
“We don’t have an answer for that yet,” Petitt said. “They’re going to work out some way that those without a CAC will be able to log in.”
Petitt cited a new announcement on the AKO Web site that states: “Be assured, however, that family members, retirees and other members of the AKO user community who are not issued CACs will still be able to access AKO’s services, both now and in the future.”
Because the cards were issued many months ago, Petitt said users are also facing another problem: Many have forgotten their six- to eight-digit PINs. Unlike similar systems in which a user waits for a new pin to arrive in the mail, CAC users who don’t know their PINs have to have their cards reset.
Those who try to log on and forget or mistype their PIN entries three or more times will be locked out of the system and must take their cards to a CAC pin reset station or ID issuance center, Petitt said. Without the PIN, users will not have access to AKO, she said.
“I think it’s important to check AKO for current information,” Petitt said. “Our Web site will tell you, ‘Here’s what you need to do to get ready for the CAC log-on.’ ”