NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - November 21, 2016) - ScholarChip®, the largest provider of smart ID cards for K-12 schools, announced new portal technologies that connect users to its unified school safety and operations system. This includes an integrated single sign-on option for districts using Student Information Systems (SIS) such as PowerSchool®, or Microsoft® Active Directory®, which serve the majority of American schools.

The new single sign-on offers stricter security and saves time with quicker access to ScholarChip's K-12 services that include identity management, attendance tracking, visitor management, behavior management, cafeteria POS, physical access, mobile apps, and notification services.

"This single sign-on is a major step forward in providing automated, easy-to-adopt operational tools to the K-12 community," said Maged Atiya, PhD, ScholarChip CEO/CTO. "It brings ScholarChip's vision of integrated and comprehensive school safety and accountability closer to universal integration with Student Information Systems, which will make school operations more efficient."

ScholarChip's single sign-on lowers overall support costs and provides immediate access to safety and accountability software for all school community members; it offers many advantages to administrators, teachers and staff, including:

• Native integration with PowerSchool and Microsoft Active Directory: users only need one set of credentials rather than two or more. Office staff can keep track of them more easily and private information is better protected. Future integrations will add other SIS and authentication protocols.
• The single sign-on connects to an interface for all ScholarChip applications, with functions and reports more easily available, and users will have a shorter learning curve.
• Password and/or a ScholarChip smart ID card access means increased security by using either a single or multifactor sign in process.

This single sign-on connects with ScholarChip's legacy Management Site, which will be available alongside the new "Management Lite" site and many interconnected applications dashboards for even faster access to ScholarChip services. Enhancements will be added to both systems over time.

About ScholarChip
ScholarChip is the largest provider of smart ID cards used for attendance, payment processing, visitor management, secure door access, and behavior management services in K12. It was first to market in centralizing and integrating School Safety and Operations System with a true one card solution, which operates seamlessly with popular Student Information Systems and NFC mobile devices.

Bridgeway Solutions represents ScholarChip - Tools for Smarter Schools - in the Southeast. Learn more about ScholarChip here.  Bridgeway Solutions is a founding member of ARMET Group providing sales, support, service and training for ScholarChip products nationwide. 

Apply for the 2017 ScholarChip Smart ID Card Starter Kit Subsidy. 

Prox cards - 125kHz proximity cards are in wide use and can make access extremely convenient but they are not as secure as you might think. Increasingly, Your prox system may be providing a window of opportunity for hackers to access other cyber systems. 

When a 125kHz proximity card is powered up by getting in “proximity” of a reader, it immediately begins to transmit a fixed binary code number. As a result, it’s also possible to use a device that will trick the card into "powering on" from a distance, allowing the bad guy to read and record its internal data. The stolen information is then used via the card/reader protocol to enter a facility via the public access computer system (PACS*), potentially acting as a gateway to the company's Intranet and computer systems.
THE SOLUTION - SMART CARD TECHNOLOGY

One aspect of securing the card’s information is to make the internal numbers unusable - encrypted. To steal the access data from a card, the potential hacker needs access to the decryption key or password. This encryption is vital to keeping your data secure. Simply stated, the card's identification code is encrypted using an algorithm and a key to generate unique cipher text that cannot be viewed or read without the correct decryption key. 

Solutions based on smart card technologies such as ScholarChip can provide greatly improved physical access control as well as identification management, automated attendance, POS and a host of other services. ScholarChip's smart card technology is equal to security levels found in financial institutions and critical security areas.

ScholarChip solutions use MIFARE ISO 14443A, secure, contactless, 80/30 (credit card) plastic card as a token or key. The highly secure, UGID (Globally Unique ID) card carries only an encrypted numerical identifier - no personal information whatsoever. Cards can be issued as dual factor allowing them to work as both a proximity card and smart card ID. 

To learn more about security risks with standard Prox cards or the increased security provided by MIFARE smart card technology, please send an email to our Technical Sales Consultants or call 800-333-3608. 

*Physical Access Control System