DOD looks for ID management

The Defense Department wants industry's help crafting an identity management strategy that balances security with a user's right to privacy.

Dave Wennergren, Navy chief information officer and chairman of the DOD Identity Protection and Management Senior Coordinating Group, said the group has made progress in moving from dozens of public-key infrastructures that didn't work together to a single departmentwide PKI.

He said the department is aiming to use PKI to authenticate people on the Internet and to protect transactions.

"You can have a Visa transaction approved simultaneously whether you are in Thailand or the United States," Wennergren said. The identity management group wants the same flexibility with its PKI.