SIA Member Profile: Kevin Kozlowski, Vice President, XTec Incorporated

How did you get into the Security Industry?

In the early days, there were only a few agencies working with smart cards. Some were looking at the financial applications, some for portable data storage, some for multi-applications, others for transit. The baseline that came out of almost each program was if implemented correctly, the smart cards could become the foundation to a secure platform. The only thing left was to define a secure, interoperable standard. Myself and many of my employees started off supporting the original government smart card specifications. This naturally led me down the path of supporting government implementations, gathering and dispersing lessons learned.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

As the Vice President of XTec I enjoy helping our customers solve problems. When our customers realize that complexity is not a requirement for a security solution it really is eye-opening. Security is not something that can be added after the fact. It has to be designed in the product from the start. If done properly, it is really just common sense applied through technology. Each implementation is bound to be different based on the existing applications and network but when implementation is approached from an enterprise perspective and built into the core of the solution it becomes much more straightforward. The mentality of getting one solution to plug this hole and another to plug that is what over-complicates security solutions. Bringing this to light for my customers is a great accomplishment and what I enjoy the most.

What’s your prediction for the biggest trend that will take place in the security industry in 2013?

There are too many indications that a major security breach is eminent. Serious discussion and actions with regards to high assurance technology are bound to be had. In fact, that discussion is flowing into non-government sectors as we speak. Username/passwords have lived past their life span. With new breaches on username/password solutions daily something has to come to the forefront that is technically sound while maintaining ease of use. We are seeing daily the expansion of cryptographic hardware solutions, such as smart cards, into state and local government, banking and healthcare. As is evident from XTec’s work at the Presidential Inauguration in January, these solutions are based on open standards and are interoperable. Many people in the industry recognize cryptography as a best practice as far as true security is concerned, many overlook the fact that it can also be rapid, flexible and mobile.

What does your organization receive from membership in SIA that you’d like to share with others?

SIA presents a great opportunity for industry collaboration, sharing lessons learned and implementation challenges help us as vendors better prepare our customers. Upcoming changes in standards and guidance is especially important to XTec and our clients. SIA does a great job of keeping track of these developments and bringing them to our attention while fostering discussion.

Will you be attending the ISC West show? If so, what are you most looking forward to about the event?

We will be exhibiting at ISC West within the Smart Card Alliance pavilion (41013). ISC West is a great opportunity to gather together as a security industry, network and learn about new technology. I always look forward to building upon current relationships and forging new ones.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).