Bytor Security Solutions offers a vast selection of ID cards, ID software and Smart card printers. Choose Bytor for all of your Seattle, WA security products.

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is delivering national ID cards to Kuwait, as part of the government program commissioned by the country`s Public Authority For Civil Information. The agreement appoints Gemalto to deliver electronic multi-application ID cards for citizens embedding contact and contactless smart card technologies, as well as plastic cards for foreign residents that implement highly secure printing features. In addition, Gemalto provides support and training services, project management, as well as smart card related software. Citizen card rollout started in June 2009 and resident cards will be deployed in the coming months. The national ID card is compulsory for all inhabitants of Kuwait.

Kuwait determined to deploy this national ID card in order to comply with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regulation designed to allow citizens of all GCC countries to travel freely between member states. This card will serve as the official ID document for Kuwaiti citizens and will also be used as a travel document in the GCC region.

The Gemalto contactless technology built in the card increases speed, convenience and security of identity verification at border crossings. In the future, the contact functionality will allow cardholders to access e-government services and perform transactions in a simple and secure manner. Foreign residents will use their card as their national ID document within the Kuwaiti territory. In the second phase, it could be upgraded to a microprocessor card. Click here for the full article.

Bytor Security Solutions offers a full range of products for badge materials, Smart Card printers, and ID card software.

For more information visit our site at http://bytorsecurity.com/

Bytor Security Solutions are HID Access Control Cards and HID ProxCard experts. Contact Bytor Security Solutions in Seattle, WA for all of your smart card security needs.

A number of critical market trends are aligning in an unprecedented manner leading to a market disruption that could dramatically change the logical and physical security arenas.

These game-changing trends include many factors.

Growing need for security

Market demand continues to grow for more effective solutions to secure buildings, information and people to address increasing identity theft, financial data fraud, litigation, attacks by disgruntled workers, network attacks, regulatory compliance pressures, geopolitical threats and more. Organizations are increasingly seeking to establish a significant level of trust for identities/people, information and devices.

Technology maturity

The technology is also advancing and maturing. After decades of sputtering adoption they are seeing dramatic market growth. The market is now embracing these enabling technologies:

Smart cards:
Smart cards and other tokens such as USB flash memory drives containing smart chips are becoming the de facto standard for portability of secure digital certificates.

Public key infrastructure (PKI):
Huge certificate authorities (CAs) have been stood up to utilize digital identities. And massive interconnect trust networks have been established for shared trust using PKI. Digital certificates are almost universally recognized as the best method to ensure effective identity verification and security.

Biometrics:
Advancements in processing power and algorithms have enabled most biometric technologies to realize 99% or greater accuracy. Biometric is now recognized as the best way to ensure the card holder is the card owner.

Physical security products:
Physical security products are increasingly IP-enabled, facilitating new, advanced applications utilizing interoperability with other network devices, applications and databases.

Contactless technology

Data transmission via radio waves has proven itself secure and highly convenient for a wide range of applications such as access, identity and monetary transactions (e-payments). Even emerging technologies such as near field communication (NFC) are seeing rapid transition from the successful pilot to wide-scale commercialization.

Proven implementations

There is a proliferation of countries utilizing digital certificates in a variety of applications, from national IDs to e-health. These successful implementations have helped establish infrastructure, use cases, best practices and have driven down costs.

Mandates

Governments and industry groups are stepping in and mandating that sophisticated systems for identity and security management be applied for a wide range of applications including electronic passports, citizen identification cards, banking, voting and welfare services.

Vulnerabilities of digital assets

Advanvced ID technologies are also being used to protect digital assets. Computer log-on is most commonly secured by a single authentication factor–the password. Cybersecurity experts repeatedly point to the extreme risk inherent in password-only access and proof stories are starting to gain traction. Just as PC manufacturers are starting to offer hard drive encryption as standard, similarly smart card log-on, encrypted e-mail and digitally-signed documents will soon become the norm.

Convergence

Several technologies and organizational factors are converging:

Convergence of physical security and IT:
Physical security products have moved from dedicated networks to IT’s networks and from myriad protocols to one protocol–IP. This not only eliminates a physical network of wires and lowers costs, but also provides a common infrastructure and communication protocol to facility interoperability.

Convergence of physical and logical security:
Organizations increasingly demand a single card to access both building and computers. This functionality enables companies to utilize a person’s physical access as a policy for network access, defeating external hackers in the process.

Convergence of credentials:
Organizations and countries continue to implement multipurpose cards with credentials that can be used for multiple applications, such as, facility access, computer log-on, payment, identification (voting, welfare services, etc.) and health records.

Convergence of responsibilities and needs:
Organizations are changing the way they evaluate, buy and utilize identity and security solutions. Due to technology convergence and the critical nature of these deployments, the IT department, physical security team, facility management, and executives must all work together to evaluate and install a security solution. Security objectives must now align with and support the overall organizational objectives.

Convergence of knowledge:
Identity, credentialing and access management is evolving into a formal discipline with established best practices.

Lower costs, improved services

Organizations are realizing lower costs and better services through digital identity systems. The health care industry is one sector that is aggressively applying security and identity technologies to safeguard patient health records, improve patient care, and streamline claims management.

Success and return on investment (ROI)

There is an increasing recognition that effective security can lead to organizational success. The effects of a single breach–costs of remediation, loss of customers, litigation, penalties and reputational costs–can put a company out of business. Therefore, organizations are increasingly seeking to establish a significant level of trust for identities/people, information and devices. Through trust and security, companies can achieve sustained, profitable growth and continuity by utilizing effective security and identity management systems to mitigate risks, reduce potential liabilities, vet identities, enforce policies, prevent negative incidents, avoid and defend against lawsuits, reduce insurance premiums and claims, comply with regulations, pass audits, and ensure privacy of personal information.

As these trends indicate, the security and identity market is truly in the midst of dramatic change. For the full article click here.

Bytor Security Solutions offers a full range of security products. Bytor can guide you in your purchase of HID Proximity Cards, Proximity Badge Holders and Adjustable Lanyards for all of your Smart Card technology needs.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions offers a complete line of Eco-Friendly products. Lanyards, badge holders, strap clips and PVC Cards are now manufactured using environmentally friendly techniques and materials.

Polyvinyl chloride–or PVC for short–dominates the nation’s plastic-card market despite efforts to find more ecologically friendly materials. Cards made of 100% PVC account for perhaps 90% of all the plastic cards made in North America, according to card-industry executives. Most of the other 10% are composite cards with polyester cores sandwiched between layers of PVC.

“PVC has been honed in our trade for over 30 years for print-grade stock–everything is built around PVC,” says Bill Crawford, vice president of sales and marketing for Franklin, Ohio-based Waytek Corp., a materials and coatings supplier to card manufacturers, and a board member of the Princeton Junction, N.J.-based International Card Manufacturers Association.

There are a few reasons PVC cards are so popular. The material sells for a dollar a pound, creating cards that cost about 4 cents each. Another reason for the popularity of PVC is that it is an easy material to print and glue magnetic stripes to. PVC can also be manipulated easily with laminating, hot stamping and dyeing from a variety of card printers.

However, there are also downsides to PVC, as cards made entirely of the material don’t last as long as cards made from a composite polyester and don’t withstand heat and cold as well. Another problem is that PVC is the “single most environmentally damaging plastic” according to Washington-based environmental group Greenpeace.

The industry is now pushing for a green solution and creating biodegradable – earth friendly cards. An additive to the cards attracts hungry microbes that break down cards in nine months to five years, industry observers say. The biodegradable cards share most of PVC’s good qualities in the manufacturing process, according to tests by card manufacturers. But biodegradable PVC has been available in cards for less than two years and costs slightly more than regular PVC. Find the original article here.

Bytor Security Solutions is committed to providing earth-friendly PVC cards and other earth-friendly security products. Contact Bytor for Lanyards, badge holders, strap clips and PVC Cards manufactured using environmentally friendly techniques and materials.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions are HID Access Control Cards and HID ProxCard experts.

The benefits and challenges of a health care ID management based on smartcards are being highlighted by the Smart Card Alliance, a nonprofit association that promotes chip cards.

If an electronic medical record program is established for the U.S. health care system, policymakers need to define an identity management infrastructure that guarantees the security of those records, suggests two Smart Card Alliance councils in a new white paper. The Health care and Identity Councils suggest using existing federal standards for smart cards to create a trusted identity management infrastructure.

The Alliance argues that plans that emphasize electronic health record exchange are putting the cart before the horse, and effective identity management is needed first.

“As we move away from paper-based medical records that are controlled by physical access to buildings, rooms, and files, we need to have a health care infrastructure that supports strong identity and security controls,” said Paul Contino, chair of the Health care Council and vice president of information technology at Mount Sinai Medical Center. “The issues with establishing identity are compounded as electronic medical records are used by many different organizations at the regional, state, and national levels.”

The Smart Card Alliance paper discusses the current challenges facing the health care IT infrastructure and details why smart cards provide the most cost efficient, secure, and user-accepted method for solving the health care identity management problem. It also explains how smart card technology can help make the critical capabilities needed in the health care infrastructure both possible and cost-effective.

“The lack of consistent and uniform identity management is at the root of the challenges faced by the health care industry today–lowering administrative costs, preventing medical identity theft and fraud, protecting patient privacy, and enabling health care data exchanges. In fact, of the 195,000 deaths in the United States that occur annually due to medical errors, 60% of those were because of failure to correctly identify the patient,” said Randy Vanderhoof, the alliance’s executive director.

In addition to the use of smart cards, the Health care and Identity Councils recommends the health care industry leverage and build upon existing federal initiatives and standards, such as the NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201 and the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card, which are already in use by numerous government agencies. Full article here.

Bytor Security Solutions offers a full range of security products. Bytor can guide you in your purchase of HID Proximity Cards, Proximity Badge Holders and Adjustable Lanyards for all of your Smart Card technology needs.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions has a great selection of ID software and ID card printers for all of your security needs.

Designed for the most sophisticated ID card applications, Asure ID Exchange is a powerful ID card software platform that provides advanced badge design tools and real-time database connectivity. Among its sophisticated features, the software includes an iDIRECTOR encoding and management module that supports advanced smart card functionality. Other highlights include Live Link for real-time data exchange, a configurable data entry center, plus connectivity to a wide range of eternal databases.

Asure ID Enterprise provides user-friendly tools for designing, printing, and managing ID cards and cardholder information in a networked environment. Ideal for organizations operating over a corporate network, the software allows multiple users in different departments to update and maintain multiple shared records in real time.

Asure ID Express 2009 is the ideal solution for companies and organizations in need of a powerful, standalone ID card software platform offering advanced tools for professional card design and batch printing. Asure ID Express features a configurable data entry center for quick card production, along with basic external database connectivity that includes real-time data exchange, batch printing and sheet printing capabilities. Special features available with Asure ID Express 2009 include compound data fields, conditional design and print rules, and the ability to connect to an external Microsoft database.

Asure ID Solo 2009 is an intuitive, entry-level photo ID software program that simplifies the process of professional ID card design and print production. Asure ID Solo provides you with all the tools you need to design and print single-sided and dual-sided ID cards. Use the internal Microsoft Access database to populate data fields. Add text, graphics, barcodes, and even encode magnetic stripes. The software holds up to 200 searchable records.

Bytor Security Solutions can guide you in your purchase of HID Proximity Cards, SmartCard printers, ID software in Seattle, WA including Evolis card printers.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions in Seattle, WA is your one stop shop for high-quality lanyards and badge reels and badge holders.

Bytor Security Solutions is expanding their line of ID products. The new No-Twist™ family of products keeps badges facing front and offers customers a better choice in personal identification lanyards.

The No-Twist™ line of products prevent badges, lanyards and badge reels from flipping over, making ID badges easier to see and read. The No-Twist™ Lanyard customization offers wearers a choice of 5 materials (MicroWeave, UltraWeave, Flat Braid, OptiWeave and Woven-In) with any logo or message imprinted for added promotional value. In addition, the No-Twist Badge reels are available in 13 colors with swivel back or slide type belt clip options and can also be customized with your company’s logo or message.

Bytor Security Solutions has No-Twist Badge Reels,  Breakaway Lanyards and Badge Holders.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions specializes in badge supplies and badge holders. Choose Bytor for all of your Security Solutions in Seattle, WA.

Bytor Security Solutions introduces Anti-Static Vinyl Badge Holders as the latest additions to their family of identification solutions.

“We understand that badge wearers have a wide range of needs,” said Mark MacDonald, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Brady People ID, Bytor Security distributor. “Our objective is to identify these needs and provide convenient, usable solutions for our customers.”

Made from a durable vinyl material, Bytor’s Anti-Static Badge Holders are the perfect ID solution for clean-room environments as well as for electronics manufacturers.  Available from Bytor in a clear, flexible vinyl, and a rigid half-card holder for magnetic stripe cards, the Anti-Static Badge Holders feature slot and chain holes to attach a wide variety of lanyards or straps.  Both vertical and horizontal styles of the vinyl holders are available to accommodate any type of ID configuration.

Bytor Security Solutions has a vast selection of badge holders available. Choose from Horizontal Armband Badge Holders, Clear Vinyl Holders, Proximity Badge Holders among many others.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions in Seattle, WA can guide you in your purchase of lanyards, badge reels and badge holders for all your security needs.

Custom Reflective Lanyards balance safety, utility and high promotional value to offer customers a highly versatile choice in personal identification lanyards. Bytor’s new Lanyard Smart Reel(TM) combines the company’s durable lanyards with retractable badge reels in an intelligent package. New Multi-Use Lanyards allow users to attach more than one item for added convenience and functionality.

“Lanyards and badge reels have multiple purposes and are worn for numerous applications at various venues and events. Our new Custom Reflective Lanyards, Smart Reels and Multi-use Lanyards combine useful characteristics to provide our customers with a wide range of options for general purpose and/or promotional applications,” said Mark MacDonald, Brady Corporation, Bytor distributor.

Bytor Security Solutions’s new Custom Reflective Lanyards are made with durable UltraWeave(TM) polyester. The high quality, large reflective area and luminescent printing ensure that wearers will be clearly visible. They are perfect for traffic safety, emergency personnel or crossing guards, as well as being a clever promotional tool. Available in black, red, royal blue, yellow and orange, Custom Reflective Lanyards can be personalized for trade shows, fundraisers, or even family reunions giving them wide customer appeal.

The new Lanyard Smart Reel(TM) combines Bytor’s popular OptiWeave(TM) lanyards with their Smart Reel(TM) quick-locking retractable badge reel allowing wearers to use their ID badge for various access and presentation functions without having to remove it. Available in black, blue and white, the Lanyard Smart Reel Combo can be imprinted for personalization and promotion, or Smart Reel itself can be purchased in bulk, and assembled by lanyard resellers

“The Lanyard Smart Reel is perfect for an encoded ID badge that is needed to gain access to a computer, office, elevator or any other secured area,” said Mr. MacDonald. “It eliminates the risk of leaving an expensive ID card behind and helps reduce the possibility of security breaches which can occur when access credentials or ID cards wind up in the wrong hands.”

Made of highly durable MicroWeave(TM) polyester, Bytor’s Multi-Use Lanyard(TM) features two end fittings to attach a variety of ID credentials, access cards, keys and more. Users can select from eight DTACH(TM) attachments, including a pen holder, cell phone/USB flash drive holder, swivel hook, split ring and bull dog clip. The lanyards are available in black, royal blue, navy blue, green, red and white, and are fully customizable on both the attachments and lanyard.

Whether you are looking for Lanyard badge reels, Reflective Lanyards, Lanyards with Split Ring or Lanyards with Bulldog Clips, Bytor Security Solutions is your one stop all access control source.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com

Bytor Security Solutions in Seattle WA are HID Access Control Cards and HID ProxCard experts.

Within the course of any given day, a hospital or health care chief security officer (CSO) faces the task of not only protecting multiple points of access but also doing so in a way that enables movement and activity, is convenient for staff and patients and does not impede the facility’s primary function: saving lives. Health care facilities exist in a wide variety of medical focus, administrative complexity and size, yet all demand appropriate access control coverage.

From the moment you enter a major hospital or health care facility, it is likely that you are being monitored before you have even got out of your car. Regardless of if you pulled the ticket to access the parking garage, presented your employee ID to the parking entry reader or walked through the triage area of the emergency room, some form of access control and security has already come into play, getting stronger and more robust the further you get into the facility. Called “security in-depth”, there are many different layers of security that go into health care facilities, with security monitoring becoming stricter the deeper you go. Often, this involves multiple points of entry and numerous levels of security for different strata of employees, typically beginning with an employee ID or access credential.

While much of what we read about preventing unauthorized access to certain areas within hospitals or health care facilities is positive, many institutions have already begun the process of implementing stronger physical security in the form of secure contactless smart cards. Breaches of physical security and unauthorized access to confidential patient files need to be addressed by putting deliberate procedures in place to audit, track and report their occurrence.

Access control in a challenging environment

Health care facilities and hospitals present unique challenges when it comes to security. The sheer volume of traffic and staffing at a major health care facility rivals any college campus environment. Whether the need is to restrict access to authorized personnel-only areas or protect personal and private patient information in either electronic or paper formats or keep hygiene standards to the maximum level, security within the confines of a health care-related setting is multi-faceted. It requires knowledge of current and future physical and logical access needs, coupled with an understanding of the standards and regulations facing today’s health care practitioners.

For years, health care facilities have used a variety of methods to provide individuals with convenient yet secure access to facilities, the PC and the network. Because building access and IT systems have traditionally been separate purchasing decisions for many organizations, health care employees are familiar with being forced to carry multiple cards or tokens, using multiple PINs or passwords to access various systems. These practices resulted in security systems that are cumbersome for the employee to use and difficult costly for the organization to manage and maintain, not to mention, deadly within an emergency setting.

Utilizing both, contact and contactless smart chip  technologies, the use of a single card solution for identification, secure access and payments, can provide a unique access control solution for health care settings.

Hospitals’ staff needs access to many different areas within the facility as well as immediate PC access and permission to access confidential client records. Carrying multiple smart cards to access those areas does not help mobility, speed or convenience for staff.

Using a single card also provides an opportunity for hospitals to combine workplace IDs and security access cards with payment cards, enabling employees to carry fewer cards and, for example, enable doctors, nurses and support staff to gain access to secure areas, while also using the same card for visual ID verification and for making purchases in the hospital cafeteria.

Benefits of contactless smart cards

One excellent example of how a contactless smart card-based application can benefit a health care organization can be seen in the use of biometrics within a pharmacy setting. Contactless smart cards minimize overhead when dealing with biometric template management and distribution. Rather than storing biometrics on a server and distributing them over a wired network, a contactless smart card-based system allows biometric templates to be carried by the card holder, offering a stronger level of authentication and security commonly referred to as “Match on Card.”

Contactless smart cards can also enhance security and address privacy concerns, as the biometric template is stored on the secure card, rather than passed over a hackable network. Using a smart card for logical access applications can advance security, improve convenience for the end-user and minimize help-desk calls for forgotten passwords for single sign-on cases.

Cost-effective access control solutions for hospitals

The availability of cost-effective, multi-technology authentication devices is making it possible for hospitals and all its facilities to leverage their existing infrastructure, while adding new functionality at a reasonable cost. The convenience afforded by using a single smart card solution has many organizations re-examining the value of converging currently independent systems to achieve solutions that are robust, easily managed and cost-effective.

Just like any other highly trafficked business, hospitals and health centers find value in IP video surveillance, either manned or unmanned, with manned surveillance for immediate security and unmanned surveillance for audit and forensics.

Protecting patient information with security standards

As with any security implementation, it is always best to look at relevant security standards and regulations driving the organizational needs. Depending on which country you are in, you must consider what applications are already being used by hospitals and if there are any specific pre-requisites. For example, in the US a standard called HIPPA governs the health care market. In Europe no such one standard exists and every country has its own a system and preferences but not overriding legislation.

As an example, Austrian hospitals are already quite advanced in their use of multi-application smart cards for patients and hospital staff. The German eGK (elektronische Gesundheitskarte) is the largest European IT project linking all sorts of patient’s records and details with each other and enhance this security system by use of smart cards.

Implementing logical access control solutions for greater security

Facing growing pressure and scrutiny from the public, health care CSOs are looking to implement stronger forms of authentication in an effort to restrict access to private patient data. Throughout the course of a day, username and passwords are used to access everything from computers to online Web portals to network resources, but does this mean that passwords are secure?

As the amount of confidential data becomes increasingly accessible, health care facilities are evaluating stronger security and searching for a replacement for traditional passwords. Unfortunately, many forms of stronger network security have traditionally been linked to poor user experiences and have resulted in poor user adoption. This does not need to be the case. 

One way this can be accomplished is through the implementation of logical access solutions, which encompass a number of PC- and network-related applications, including secure authentication and/or log-in to the PC or network, secure email, data encryption, file/folder encryption, single sign-on and remote VPN access.

Gaining access to the network, whether for ordering medication from the pharmacy or for accessing films or private patient information, can be mission critical for health care facilities. With doctors and nurses using shared terminals or mobile work stations, ensuring that patient information is secure and accessible is a major issue, especially when it occurs within a life-saving situation. If you lose or forget your password and cannot gain prompt access to patient records, it could cost a life. However, by using either a contact or contactless smart card to authenticate to the mobile terminal or workstation, many of these issues can be alleviated.

All-in-one access control solution

From a convenience perspective, having one card that does it all-a photo ID, an access control card, a cafeteria card and an additional authentication factor for network login-can provide a striking value proposition for organizations in the health care market. Leveraging the smart card across a wide range of applications beyond just opening the door can provide high value to hospitals and health care facilities that are charged with maintaining the highest levels of security, and doing so with a cost structure that saves time and money, in addition to patient’s lives.

The fact that hospitals and health care facilities globally need to comply with strict hygiene standards has also raised the demand for access and security equipment that is waterproof and can be easily sterilized. Hospital staff who have continuous patient contact while simultaneously using their smart cards to gain access to rooms, secure PC applications and patient records, thus benefit from contactless technologies as it helps to control infections and reduce the likelihood of transferring viruses.

The future is contactless smartcards

Looking ahead, the health care sector will continue to improve their physical security systems and improve patients’ confidentiality while increasing hygiene standards. Although some countries seem to be more advanced than others, many countries have already realized that contactless smartcards are the means to better current practice and set a standard for years to come.

Bytor Security Solutions can guide you in your purchase of  HID Proximity Cards, Proximity Badge Holders and Adjustable Lanyards for all of your Smart Card technology needs.

For more information visit our site at www.bytorsecurity.com