IN THE BOARDROOM™ with...
Mr. Larry Jurcich
VP & GM, Information Assurance & Engineering Division
Nortel Government Solutions
www.nortelgov.com
(NYSE: NT)

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Larry. Please give us an overview of your background and your role at Nortel Government Solutions
(NGS).

Larry Jurcich: I am the Vice President and General Manager for the Information Assurance and Engineering Division (IAED). The division
provides information assurance solutions to government agencies with a focus on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Security Operations activities, Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance and Security Training. I have 27 years federal government experience mostly with Federal Law Enforcement Agencies and the last 6 years in private industry. I have technical and/or managerial experience most areas of Information Technology and have spent most of my career running Information Technology modernization programs.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What are the key market drivers for the Secure ID market at this time?

Larry Jurcich: NGS focuses on delivering solutions for the Federal Government. The key market drivers for Identity Management solutions in the Federal market are Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), the Real-ID Act, and Privacy concerns. HSPD-12 requires that all Federal employees and on-site contractors get cleared for access to government facilities and information systems using a standard process. The implementing instructions are published by NIST in FIPS 201; it specifies the requirements for Personal Identity Verification (PIV) and identifies compliant smart cards, hardware and software solutions. All solution components need to be tested and approved for use in compliant solutions as a hedge to insure interoperability across the government. This directive has also breathed new life into the Public-Key digital signature and biometric markets as both artifacts are required on each smart card issued. The intent of the Real-ID act is to allow the DHS to set minimum issuance standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification documents. The privacy concerns center around protecting the information recorded on the authentication token, smart card, and protecting portable computers, laptops and such, against unauthorized disclosure.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What are the main challenges in achieving widespread adoption from your perspective?

Larry Jurcich: From my perspective, the main challenges in achieving widespread adoption are budgetary, political, and the shear complexity associated with enterprise wide implementation. HSPD-12 implementation is an unfunded mandate so agencies have had to search within for the required funding. Since both the new and the old systems for PIV had to operate concurrently, this has placed pressure on agency budgets. Even greater pressure was placed on those agencies that had no PIV process in place but were faced with implementation because they had to stand up a new clearance process. The political challenges are quite sensitive and run the gamete from concern that this ubiquitous PIV process will result is a disenfranchised workforce to concern that the ability of card readers can work in all weather conditions. For example, in the Transportation Worker Identification Program (TWIC) it was decided that the system would be implemented in all of the maritime ports without card reader equipment. On the complexity issue, it can be a daunting task to implement and administer an enterprise-wide credential system. There are a number of management processes and workflows incidental to participant enrollment and card issuance that need to be implemented concurrently aside from the technical implementation of the processing platforms. Because FIPS 201 requires equipment and software to be certified for use and the requisite technology is mature, the technical challenges are minimal.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Please give us an overview of Nortel's activities in the Government market?

Larry Jurcich: Our Identity Management Solutions (IdM) set is predicated upon extensive experience in: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and global directory services design, implementation, and support; Government regulation development, policy development. Our IdM Service offering is vendor independent. NGS prides itself on having an in-depth knowledge of the leading standards-based Identity Management solutions and being able to select the proper blend to facilitate secure information sharing intra and inter organization. NGS has focused its research and development on building a service offering that includes Public Key Infrastructure, Directory Services, Smartcard/Token-based Services, Web Enablement, User Provisioning, Auditing, and Identity Lifecycle Management.

Nortel Government Solutions is a trusted partner for government to support the livelihood, security, and well-being of its citizens. We deliver a comprehensive portfolio of technology and high-end services capable of meeting the demands of the most complex and important systems in the world. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, Nortel Government Solutions engineers, deploys and manages mission-critical solutions for government, including homeland security, criminal justice and intelligence, defense and civilian agencies within the U.S. Federal Government and at state and local levels.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Are there 1 or 2 success stories you'd like to talk about?

Larry Jurcich: NGS has provided a number of Identity Management solutions to Federal clients such as the Social Security Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Transportation Security Administration. Below I will characterize a couple of the solutions to depict the breadth and depth of our capability.

Nortel Government Solutions is supporting the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA), Office of Diversion Control's efforts to establish a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) solution for the electronic transmission of controlled substance prescriptions and orders between the over one million healthcare professionals who are registered with the DEA. The PKI has significantly reduced costs and improved the accuracy of these transactions by offering the industry an alternative to currently mandated paper prescriptions and DEA-issued triplicate order forms. The DEA's Controlled Substance Ordering System is designed to support over 5 million supply chain orders and over 500 million prescriptions each year and integrates into the industry members ordering system. The system provides both non-repudiation and integrity of the electronically signed document. The first digital certificate was issued Aug. 15, 2005, and the first transaction was handled on Oct. 3. To date, more than 22,700 certificates have been issued and 208,000 transactions made on the system. This system has reduced industries cost by $5,000,000.

Nortel Government Solutions (NGS) provides software development and operations and maintenance to the Department of Justice Joint Automated Booking System (JABS) Program Management Office for the development and management of the JABS and Civil Applicant System (CAS) programs: JABS is a DOJ enterprise-wide law enforcement information sharing system used to facilitate the rapid identification through an automated booking process of individuals under arrest or detention. These systems interface with biographic data for positive identification with the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Information System (IAFIS).

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thanks again for joining us, Larry.