Smart Cards Connect the Corps

The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers fulfills a diverse mission of engineering services throughout the U.S. and the world, in both natural and urban environments. There is a similar diversity to the places Corps personnel travel to – their workplace is often remote and rugged, far from the nearest Army base, computer or network. To stay connected, satellite telephones were deployed to access voice and data. To stay secure, smart cards were integrated into the system. CardLogix and partner Litronic teamed up to supply a portable and secure solution to keep personnel connected to vital information, without risking data breeches.

Making The Most of Legacy Technology

The satellite telephone system in place was designed around an obsolete chip and card by another vendor, so the first step for CardLogix was to develop a Card Operating System that worked with the existing technology. Litronic then recertified and re-implemented the system. The CardLogix Card Operating System that was created was portable and worked across multiple chip families and semiconductor vendors, creating a future-proof product for the ten year life cycle of the satellite telephones.

With new smart card security in place, Army Corps personnel could connect to secure data networks and computers more safely than ever before. A stored value purse was added to the card for use at Army bases. For ten years, over 100,000 cards were issued to and used by Army Corps and Army services personnel throughout the world.
The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers keeps vital infrastructure up and running worldwide. With the help of CardLogix and Litronic, what they build stays strong while their data stays safe.

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