-- Supports the U.S. Department of Defense's Implementation of CAC and PIV Technology --

SOMERSET, N.J., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ - Raritan today announced that its Paragon® II enterprise-class KVM solution -- the industry's first to be offered with an optional integrated smart-card-reader -- has achieved approval under FIPS 201 -- the U.S. Federal government's important standard that specifies Personal Identity Verification (PIV) requirements for Federal employees and contractors.

The Raritan solution -- which provides secure, non-blocked keyboard, video and mouse access to multiple data center servers and other IT equipment from one or more user stations -- supports the use of smart cards, including Common Access Cards (CAC) and PIV cards. The system's integrated reader is built into the Paragon II Enhanced User Station/C.

The FIPS 201 approval has been granted under the category of "Transparent Card Reader." Only FIPS 201-compliant card readers can be used in identity management systems for complying with the U.S. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12). The directive outlines a common identification standard for authenticating federal employee and contractor access -- both physically and logically -- to federal information systems.

For additional security measures, Paragon II does not store or cache smart card data, requires re-authentication when changing targets, and allows access to a given server by only one user at a time. The Paragon II solution is on the United States GSA schedule of approved FIPS 201 products. More on the solution can be found at www.Raritan-ap.com/Cat5-KVM.

For a look at how the U.S. Department of Defense is using Raritan's solution, please visit this link.