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3.1.3 PIV Relying Subsystem

NIST PIV and digital identity FIPS 201-2
All changes in this version
first version loaded 3 PIV System Overview part of 3.1

Title

PIV Relying Subsystem

Control

The PIV relying subsystem includes components responsible for determining a particular PIV cardholder’s access to a physical or logical resource. A physical resource is the secured facility (e.g., building, room, parking garage) that the cardholder wishes to access. The logical resource is typically a network or a location on the network (e.g., computer workstation, folder, file, database record, software program) to which the cardholder wants to gain access.

The authorization data component comprises information that defines the privileges (authorizations) possessed by entities requesting to access a particular logical or physical resource. An example of this is an access control list (ACL) associated with a file on a computer system.

The physical and logical access control system grants or denies access to a particular resource and includes an identification and authentication (I&A) component as well as an authorization component.

17 For more information on the terms “something you know,” ”something you have,” and “something you are,” see [SP 800-63]. 18 Alternatively, on-card biometric comparison can be used to activate the PIV Card. The I&A component interacts with the PIV Card and uses mechanisms discussed in Section 6 to identify and authenticate cardholders. Once authenticated, the I&A component passes information to the authorization component which in turn interacts with the authorization data component to match the cardholder information to the information on record. Access control components typically interface with the card reader, the PIN input device, the biometric reader, supplementary databases, and any certificate status service.