The White House has released a report on the government’s suitability determination process, ordered by President Obama following the Navy Yard shootings last fall and among the far-reaching report’s recommendations is a more consistent application of credentialing decisions for access to IT systems.
It says the minimum standards to grant credentials for accessing government IT systems focus primarily on whether an individual is who they claim to be, and if they have a nexus to terrorism. But the report recommends the adoption of additional OPM supplemental standards (having to do with whether an individual presents other risks to workplace safety or national security) for credentialing as the minimum required by all federal agencies.
For this to happen the President would need to direct OPM to require unified criteria for issuance of access credentials for all employees and contractors who hold personal identification verification – PIV, cards.
According to the report, within 180 days, a centralized interagency council – the Performance Accountability Council – charged with carrying out and overseeing implementations of recommendations in the report, is to identify the specific timing of actions to changecredentialing criteria, including modifications to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.