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Los Alamos National Lab turns to K&A for Secure Local Site Access Badges K&A delivered 20,000 custom-encrypted HID® Crescendo Smart Cards and PKI Certificates to one of the world’s largest scientific institutions.

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Los Alamos National Lab needed help to self-issue FIPS compliant, interoperable, secure local site access badges for 80% of their workforce.

The U.S. DOE subscribes to a government service for the issuance of FIPS compliant PIV cards for their employees. However, when it comes to their short-term employees, LANL needs to self-issue an interoperable, dual technology card to give them a local site access credential that meets the FIPS obligations for physical and logical access. Since they have to self-issue, Los Alamos would need to figure out and manage their own implementation and infrastructure for these secure credentials. What’s more, they had to be simultaneously compliant with the FIPS mandate and interoperable with all of their existing physical and logical access readers.

As a research and development laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Los Alamos National Lab is known for its contributions to national security. As such, LANL turned to HID® Global for cutting-edge local site access security and decided on the Crescendo Smart Card Series. 

“Los Alamos National Lab had to find a way to self-issue Local Site Access badges — which, in rough numbers, account for approximately 80% of their workforce.”
- Leon Deane
President, K&A Industries

The Challenge

Los Alamos needed to implement an independent system that mimicked their government-issued service for secure credentials — meeting all the same high standards without the ease of government-issued access cards. To set up their own infrastructure, they would need: 

Thankfully, HID had a recommendation on who they could call to help with such an undertaking, and the DOE Lab at North Las Vegas put in a good word as well. What’s more, LANL already knows the ID experts at K&A who have been supporting their PIV credential issuance since 2008.

“HID’s Crescendo Smart Card Series provides one card that works within all of your established physical access control framework while providing unparalleled security for logical access.”
HID® Crescendo®
Smart Card Series
Los Alamos National Lab – Secure Credentials

The logo/picture/likeness used in this marketing material is the property of its respective owners. It is used here solely for illustrative purposes and to showcase our past work.

Enter K&A Industries — “We do ID right.”

K&A trusted vendor of card printer supplies for Los Alamos before Secure Credentials

Multiple recommendations to partner with K&A along with a trusted history.

K&A has been a trusted vendor with the Department of Energy at Los Alamos for PIV credential supplies since 2008, providing FIPS shielded badge holders, card printers, printer supplies, maintenance & support. K&A is proud to be trusted as their ID solutions provider, but this project came with another promising prospect: and the Lab at North Las Vegas (another laboratory within the DOE) recently worked with K&A to implement the same FIPS compliant credentialing system that Los Alamos National Lab now aimed for. 

“The recommendation from the Lab at North Las Vegas, along with the HID® deployment team, made it an easy decision for the Los Alamos National Lab to choose to partner with K&A for secure local site access credentials.”
- Leon Deane
President, K&A Industries

The Solution —
K&A’s Complete Secure ID Services

20k Crescendo® Smart Cards for DOE Lab + Encrypted PKI Certificates, HDP6600 Card Printers, & Secure Credential Management

K&A worked with LANL to understand their requirements and workshop solutions that passed national security mandates. It all boiled down to several critical, expertly-sourced deliverables: 

Once the particulars were workshopped, all that was left was managing logistics and getting 20k Crescendo Smart Cards in the hands of DOE short-term employees at LANL. With IT at Los Alamos, HID, and K&A all working together in weekly project management calls, this huge undertaking went from deciding on a card technology to implementing timelines within a few months. 

Fargo Card Printer HDP6600
Crescendo 2300 access card series
“...this huge undertaking went from deciding on a card technology to implementing timelines within a few months.”
- Leon Deane
President, K&A Industries

Today, we at K&A are proud to call ourselves the secure credential custodians to Los Alamos National Lab’s Local Site Access badges. They own the encrypted keys; we are the gatekeepers to their security, and their trusted card printer support team.

And we at K&A stand by our slogan — “We do ID right.”

The Results

100
Custom Crescendo Smart Cards

FIPS compliant local site access badges for the LANL workforce.

1
Brand New Fargo HDP6600 Card Printers
Pre-configured plus all the needed consumables.
100
Encrypted PKI Certificate User Licenses
Along with ongoing support and maintenance.

“We do ID right.” Our tagline says it all – we know what we are doing and are good at what we do.

K&A has been the secure ID architect for every type of industry — financial, educational, healthcare, property management, you name it — and we have practical experience that we can apply to your project. Get started with a free white boarding consultation, and together, we will future proof your access control system. Fill out our contact form or simply give us a call.
“Don’t Worry, we got it”
- Leon Deane
President, K&A Industries
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