Education Department CISO Discusses User-Friendly Citizen Authentication Options

Steven Hernandez, the Department of Education’s chief information security officer, said in a recent podcast interview that his organization’s zero trust implementation plan focuses on improving public and employee user experience.

The Office of Management and Budget is requiring agencies to offer citizens authentication options on par with that of federal employees so the public can choose how strong their interactions with the government are, GovCIO Media & Research reported. 

Hernandez told GovCIO Media & Research that he wants users to rely on Login .gov as a “single front door with a single strong way to get in.” Once signed in, citizens would be able to request access to multiple government systems.

He noted that the Education Department is working on an identity-proofing process where employees are checked through biometrics and personal identity verification cards. The agency plans to apply the same Identity-proofing approach to its citizen-facing services.

According to Hernandez, the Education Department can provide the public with camera-based identity-proofing methods.