FIPS 201 defines personal identity verification of federal employees and contractors. The standard is based on which initiative?

• A. HSPD-12
• B. FIPS 199
• C. NIST SP 800-53
• D. ISO 27001

Answer: (A)

The core idea is a government-wide, secure identity credential for federal workers and contractors that enables both physical and logical access. This comes from Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, which directed agencies to implement a common, secure form of identification. FIPS 201 translates that directive into the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) standard, detailing how identity is proven, how credentials are issued, and how cryptographic and multi-factor authentication are used to verify identity across agencies. The other options don’t establish this uniform credential program: FIPS 199 covers security categorization, NIST SP 800-53 lists security controls, and ISO 27001 is an international information security management standard.