US Government employees have a secure Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart ID card that provides access to buildings, services, controlled spaces, and computer networks/systems. Each card has a security level attached for the specific employee. In the workplace, readers for these cards come from officially greenlit vendors chosen by the government. These vendors have been vetted to pass strict security demands. However, employees are also able to use their cards at home for remote access. It seems the US government is not issuing readers for this use, leaving employees to find their own secure smart ID card readers. Many of them are turning to cheap online products that just do not provide the same level of protection.
Malware Threat
It found that 42 security tools were flagging Saicoo drivers as malicious. Most put this down to a malware threat known as Ramnit, which is a well-known trojan. In other words, it seems the reader could be carrying a malware threat. Not ideal for a product that will actively read DoD ID cards and provide access. It is unclear why the US government does not issue employees and contractors with a reader from its approved list. Until that happens, employees will look for cheap online readers which could potentially be causing a massive security risk. Tip of the day: Need to create an ad-hoc network from your PC? In our tutorial we show you how to easily create a shareable wireless internet connection in Windows as a free WIFI hotspot.
