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ForgeRock Delivers Solution to Help Government Agencies

Accelerate Secure Rollout of Digital Services For Citizens

With data breaches impacting millions of Americans, President Obama signed an Executive
Order on October 17, 2014, that emphasizes securing online transactions. The National
Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) office is overseeing progress towards
meeting this mandate, which will likely require federal agencies to connect with the United
States Postal Service's (USPS) Federal Cloud Credential eXchange (FCCX). The FCCX is a
federation hub that allows citizens to securely access government agency services with existing
commercially issued, verified digital identities. The FCCX acts as a middleman, streamlining
citizen access to online services with a secure, privacy-enhancing, easy-to-use-solution while
also reducing costs for government agencies.

The Executive Order calls for plans to be presented to the President within 90 days and for
agencies to comply within 18 months. In anticipation of these plans, ForgeRock Inc. recently
announced FederalConnect, a new downloadable software solution that allows federal agencies
to accelerate their rollout of digital citizen services. ForgeRock, a leading open-platform provider
of identity and access management solutions, already has an impressive track record in
delivering eGovernment authentication, having provided the platform for digital services
targeting citizens for the governments of Norway and Belgium. The company has also begun
working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Widespread adoption of eGovernment practices is likely to ease citizen access to services and
deliver substantial efficiency gains to government agencies. The IRS, for example, spent more
than $1 billion communicating with taxpayers on paper and by telephone in 2012 but could slash
these costs if more citizens communicated with it online. Compared to the costs of building and
maintaining its own identify authentication solution, the IRS could save $63 million to $298
million during a 10-year period by using FCCX to authenticate citizens. The agency could save
1
between $40 million and $110 million in adoption costs alone.

Effective eGovernment Needs a Hub

U.S. government agencies and departments have traditionally had their own applications and
authorization processes, but multiple sign-ons, digital IDs, and passwords are difficult for
citizens to handle and pose a security risk because identifying information is passed around
multiple networks and systems. With fresh reports of security breaches coming out almost every
day, citizens have become wary of providing identity information online. This acts as a drag on
their adoption of online services—and prevents the government from realizing the full potential

1 http://www.slideshare.net/CloudIDSummit/03-grant-fccx-and-idesg-and-industry-perspectives

23 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – November 2014 Edition
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