Page 39 - FCW, November/December 2020

Entity Authentication and Authorization for Everyone
Social Security Administration
Synthetic identity fraud involves the criminal use of real and fake information to create a new identity, and it’s the fastest-growing type of financial fraud in the United States, according to a 2019 Federal Reserve report. In 2016, it cost U.S. lenders $6 billion and accounted for 20% of credit losses, the report states.
Fraudsters often co-opt Social Security numbers because they’re a nearly universal personal identifier. The Social Security Administration is fighting back through a service that streamlines and strengthens authentication.
To verify in real time whether the combination of an individual’s Social Security number, name and date of birth match authoritative SSA data, the agency built the Electronic Consent Based
Social Security Number Verification (eCBSV) system so participating financial institutions could confirm that the use
of an SSN was legitimate. eCBSV also allows individuals to electronically consent to have their identities verified by SSA.
To enable financial institutions and their affiliate businesses to securely enroll in and access eCBSV, SSA developed the Entity Authentication
and Authorization for Everyone (EAZE) application. EAZE allows only preapproved financial institutions to access eCBSV, and it was built with modern security architectures and public-key infrastructure to meet security
and privacy demands while capturing individual consent.
In addition, SSA incorporated several risk mitigation measures, including extended validation SSL certificates, OpenID Connect and machine-to- machine authorization using OAuth 2.0 for federated user authentication.
Before EAZE, the eCBSV entity and affiliate registration processes were performed manually and often took weeks to complete. After requesting access, registrants would receive
codes through the mail and would
have to go back online to finish the registration process. Once entities were registered, SSA created and managed affiliate accounts and their permissions through a process that did not meet security standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for authentication. In addition, the process was not scalable or sustainable.
Now EAZE allows quick, secure and frictionless onboarding for the thousands of financial institutions and affiliated businesses that are expected to tap into eCBSV. It is also saving time and money and reducing risk.
Health Assessment Lite Operations
U.S. Army
A consistent bright spot in the Army’s management of medical records is the Health Assessment Lite Operations (HALO) application designed by the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care.
Medical providers often face network
connectivity issues when treating wounded soldiers on the battlefield,
and the time it takes to share medical data can have a serious impact on a patient’s care. The HALO app specializes in maintaining electronic health record documentation even when there’s no network connectivity.
Before HALO, no connection meant sharing information with other providers through paper documents that were sometimes pinned directly to the patient’s clothes. Now the app captures data and then uploads it to the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application-Theater when connectivity is restored.
The app connects to a network whenever the medical provider gets to a clinic, aid station or other facility. HALO also facilitates data sharing and synchronization in real time, which allows medical providers in different facilities to oversee and co-sign one another’s notes.
HALO was first deployed in Afghanistan in 2019 to help medical personnel electronically record patient data from the point of injury through medical treatment at field hospitals and other facilities.
“HALO can greatly reduce, if
not eliminate, the number of paper encounters, making it much more
likely the data will be included in the soldier’s record and allowing that data to be searchable via [Medical Situational Awareness in the Theater] for future treatments,” said Tracy Ellis, product director at Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care.
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