April: InfrastructureCoreStreet's new access control technology making news
CoreStreet’s Card-Connected technology creates a system of stand-alone electronic locks and physical access control systems which communicate by reading and writing digitally signed data (privileges and logs) to and from smart cards; card holders thus become an extension of the physical access network in which cards, rather than of wires, carry information to and from the standalone locks
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based CoreStreet has been among the major players in credential validation solutions for some time, providing one of the key technologies to validate the certificates on smart card-based credentials. Recently, CoreStreet introduced Card-Connected Technology which uses smart cards to extend central access control to standalone doors and mobile locks. The U.S. intelligence community is interested in the solution, and last week the company announced a strategic investment and technology advancement agreement with In-Q-Tel, a strategic investment firm which is run on business principles but has as its mission the identification of technology solutions which would support the mission of the U.S. intelligence community. The agreement allows for development and enhancement of new converged security solutions, including the Card-Connected technology. “Card-Connected technology uses strong cryptography to extend central access control to standalone doors and mobile locks, at a fraction of the cost of wired doors,” said Chris Broderick, CEO of CoreStreet. Within a CoreStreet-Enabled access control system, stand-alone electronic locks and physical access control systems communicate by reading and writing digitally signed data (privileges and logs) to and from smart cards. Card holders thus become an extension of the physical access network in which cards, rather than of wires, carry information to and from the standalone locks. “CoreStreet is a critical addition to our strategic investment portfolio for security technologies,” said Ben Levitan, partner at In-Q-Tel. “As part of our charter, In-Q-Tel evaluates innovative technology advances with specific applicability to the challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community. In-Q-Tel is pleased to be partnering with CoreStreet, a leader in the converged security market space. We are impressed with their creative solutions to physical security challenges and with the emerging eco-system supporting their innovative solutions.”
Physical security products incorporating CoreStreet’s Card-Connected technology enable enterprises to deploy physical access controls which are secure and manageable. The Card-Connected products are a series of locks, such as the Kaba E-Plex 5900, which authenticate electronic credentials and enforce the enterprise’s policies. These locks ensure the enterprise can audit access to physical resources, manage the locks efficiently, and enforce policies in remote locations without dispatching support personnel or installing network connectivity.
To bring the Card-Connected technology to market, CoreStreet had to develop a complete physical security ecosystem consisting of companies ready to bring converged IT / physical security solutions, including smart cards, to their customers. CoreStreet established partnerships with key lock manufacturer such as Assa Abloy
