The US Coast Guard (USCG) continues to lead the way in providing access control and identity authentication in the Department of Homeland Security. The USCG Headquarters Support Command, for example, has integrated four systems together to fulfill the goal of verifying the identities of everyone entering the building.

"There is no one system that does it all right now," Truax told HSToday.us. "Nobody has that system. We have been researching it and we found four systems that are compatible with what we need to use. We put those together and we have them blended together."

The first system Truax relies upon is called Maxxess, which screens employs of US Coast Guard Headquarters. Maxxess authenticates more than 58,000 entries per month, Truax reported.

"The system has biometric access capabilities for secure spaces," he explained. "We also turned around and took the 400 readers that we have in our building and now they double as guard tour readers. As our guards are making their rounds, they can swipe their badge as they pass any reader as they make a tour and we know they have been in the space. So we have a good detailed view of how our guards are making their tours. They follow random routines to mix it all up."

The second system in use at the headquarters is called RapidGate, which verifies the identities of contractors entering USCG facilities.

"We use it for our unclassified contractors, basically construction workers, cleaning crew or anyone who doesn't require a clearance," Truax described. "We have 155 companies registered currently with 904 active cards. We have issued more than 1,400 since we started this system, but only about 900 are still active. Contractors come and go."

RapidGate authenticates more than 9,000 entries per month into headquarters. Like Maxxess, RapidGate requires an employee or contractor to scan an identification badge at a turnstile station. A guard then receives a message from the system's database as to whether the employee is validated for entry.

RapidGate also continues to operate easily in the case that USCG Headquarters must activate a continuity of operations plan. Truax can pack up the system and take it with USCG personnel as they go to a new building in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. With a phone line, he can reestablish contact to the contractor database to start authenticating entry into the new facility immediately.

RapidGate does not cost anything upfront for the Coast Guard.

"Everything is defrayed with the cost that the vendors pay to perform background checks," he elaborated. "It does a 10-year background check and then it does a background check every 92 days. It badges them and vets them and all of the years. All of the costs are deferred. I pay no money upfront. Contractors pay the costs for the contractor vetting system required for them to work in the building."

Additional Systems

The Coast Guard, because of its strong ties to the military forces, uses the Defense Department's Common Access Card (CAC) as its security badge platform. The system runs under the Defense National Visitor's Center, implemented at headquarters last June. The system was developed by the Defense Manpower Data Center, which is responsible for the CACs and other authentications cards at the Department of Defense (DoD).

The Defense National Visitor's Center verifies active duty CACs, retirees, dependents and civilian contractors. It verifies about 3,000 entries a month into USCG Headquarters by DoD visitors.

Finally, USCG Headquarters uses an authentication system from L-1 Identity Solutions to verify the identities of people who do not possess a building access card or CAC card. About 3,000 credentials a month are verified through the Authenticate Document Reader, originally offered by Viisage Technology Inc., now a part of L-1 Identity Solutions.

"We can verify passports and driver's licenses and anything that we cannot verify through the other systems like green cards and visas," Truax noted. "I can run it through and the iAuthenticate system and it has all of the security features built into it so it knows what to look for when it looks at a passport or a driver's license or whatever.

"There are more than 500 types of driver's licenses and identifications throughout the United States. California has 18 different licenses that they issue," he continued. "There is no way any guard could know that, even with a book. The system checks it all out and verifies that the ID is real."

Last June, iAuthenticate detected a string of fake IDs being used to access the loading dock at USCG Headquarters through laborers. The Coast Guard called in the Federal Protective Service, which launched an investigation with DC police. They traced the fake IDs back to a ring in Washington and arrested five people who created the IDs.

"All four systems work hand in hand. Each has a particular job to do. We push people through with confidence. This is real authentication. We are there and we are doing it," Truax declared.