GSA to test e-authentication tools

The General Services Administration will set up a lab under the E-Authentication e-government initiative to test commercial products that perform certificate path discovery and validation services.

In a request for information released this week, GSA asked vendors to submit products that meet federal functional requirements by April 15. After reviewing responses, GSA will invite vendors whose products meet the requirements to test them in the E-Authentication lab.

GSA will eventually release a list of qualified and preferred vendors to federal agencies for implementing certificate e-authentication systems. The list will be available by June 30, the RFI said.

"While the government's ultimate goal is to acquire products and services that fully meet these requirements, we acknowledge that products and services available today may not fully address these requirements," the RFI said. "Therefore we are interested in determining the state of industry and subsequently working with vendors whose products and services most closely meet these requirements."

GSA is asking vendors to address two methodologies: local validation and host validation. Local validation products are co-located with the secure applications; an outside vendor provides host validation services.

The list of preferred vendors will also help agencies implement the federal identification card standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology released in February. The Office of Management and Budget mandated implementation of these standards by October 2006.

E-Authentication is one of the 25 Quicksilver projects and one of five that GSA manages.