Siemens Business Services receives new smartcard order from Italian Ministry of Defense

The Italian Ministry of Defense in Rome has been given a new order of the Defense Multipurpose Card to Siemens Business Services: Some 140,000 cards are now ordered additionally to the 110,000 cards which have already been delivered to the army. The Defense Multipurpose Card, as the smartcard is known, contains not only personal data and a photo of the holder, but also a fingerprint, medical health data and the necessary digital certificates. These are needed for authentication, encryption of e-mails and electronic signature. The card has a 32-KB memory capacity and is certified according to the highest European security standard for digital signatures (ITSEC e4 high). With the aid of a PC with a suitable drive, it is possible to verify beyond doubt the authenticity of the card, the identity of the holder and the correctness of the stored data from any location. Conversely, military personnel can use the card to access information in the network without any risk. Siemens Business Services supplies the smartcards via Siemens Informatica and is responsible for installing and configuring the Public Key Infrastructure required for authentication and digital signatures.