17959 Dumfries Shopping Plaza, Suite 2B, Dumfries, VA 22026
Phone: 703.862.5500 | Email: contact@synchrocyber.com
Contact us to schedule a conversation about your ICAM, PACS, or USAccess needs.
PACS Vendor Support
Supporting PACS testing for the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program
Helping PACS manufacturers prepare high-assurance, FIPS 201–aligned solutions and get ready for FRTC testing and APL submission.
SynchroCyber provides expert support to PACS manufacturers, reader vendors, cloud PACS platforms, validation system providers, and integrators seeking to develop solutions suitable for federal use. We help vendors:
- Interpret and align with FIPS 201-3,
- Understand the expectations of the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program,
- Prepare for PACS Functional Requirements & Test Cases (FRTC),
- Improve certificate validation behavior and trust-path correctness,
- Identify issues early and reduce the need for costly resubmissions,
- Prepare solutions for submission to the GSA Approved Products List (APL).
To help PACS vendors build, validate, and confidently deliver secure, standards-based solutions for federal customers—without crossing into the evaluation activities or decision-making that belong solely to GSA.
What We Do
We help vendors validate and refine their solution before entering the official FIPS 201 Evaluation Program.
Our support includes:
- Executing and reviewing PACS FRTC test cases
- Verifying authentication correctness (CAK, BIO, BIO-A, CHUID, CHUID-CAK)
- Testing behavior with PIV, PIV-I, CAC, Derived, and Analytic credentials
- Evaluating controller, reader, and panel responses
- Identifying logic or standards misalignment
- Preparing a test environment that mirrors GSA’s evaluation lab
- Reducing risk of repeat testing and APL submission delays
This ensures vendors enter formal testing fully prepared.
Certificate path failures are the #1 reason PACS products fail FRTC testing.
We provide hands-on PKI engineering support, including:
We provide hands-on PKI engineering support, including:
- Trust-chain validation debugging (Root → Intermediate → Credential)
- Correct installation of trust anchors and required CAs
- OCSP and CRL configuration validation
- Troubleshooting CAK/PAK failures
- Ensuring the correct handling of revoked, expired, or malformed certificates
- Understanding PIV-I and cross-certified trust chain behavior
- Correcting validation logic in readers, controllers, and middleware
We can also use the SynchroCyber FRTC Trust Path Automation Tool to accelerate trust-path testing.
We evaluate how your hardware and software behave under the functional requirements of FIPS 201, including:
- Reader authentication mode behavior
- Controller decision logic and error-handling
- CHUID validation and expiration checks
- Biometric verification flows
- Data parsing and PIV data model support
- Handling of failed, revoked, or unknown credentials
- Firmware consistency across devices
This ensures component-level consistency and FRTC-aligned behavior.
GSA’s APL submission requires detailed and complete documentation packages.
We help vendors prepare:
- System topology diagrams (Infrastructure, Validation, Reader)
- Trust path and certificate validation flow diagramsInterface
- Control Documents (ICDs)Configuration guides for controllers, readers, and validation servers
- Product documentation required by GSA/MSO
- Vendor capability claims mapped to FIPS 201 requirements
- Technical responses to Evaluation Program inquiries
We prepare vendors for the full APL evaluation cycle, not just the test cases.
For PACS vendors supporting agencies that use USAccess, we provide integration guidance:
- Mapping PACS identity fields to USAccess sponsorship/adjudication data
- Provisioning support using agency integrations with SynchroSIP
- Ensuring new PACS accounts are created with the required PIV attributes
- Ensuring access removals match PIV lifecycle changes
- Supporting agency ICAM governance and identity quality requirements
This enables PACS vendors to offer agencies an end-to-end ICAM-aligned physical access solution.
If your product receives findings or fails part of the evaluation:
- We analyze test results and reproduce findings
- Identify underlying design or configuration issues
- Correct certificate-validation logic problems
- Prepare updated firmware/software for retesting
- Re-execute relevant FRTC cases
- Build a corrective action plan for GSA/MSO
We streamline the process from findings → fixes → successful retest.
- Deep FIPS 201 & FRTC Expertise
Hands-on experience executing and interpreting PACS Functional Requirements and Test Cases. - Federal PKI Specialists
Experts in trust chains, OCSP, CRLs, card path validation, and certificate lifecycle behaviors. - Credential Interoperability Experience
Support for PIV, PIV-I, CAC, Derived, and Analytic credentials. - GSA APL Knowledge
We help vendors avoid common APL submission errors and misinterpretations. - Engineering-Level Troubleshooting
Direct support for developers, firmware engineers, and product architects. - Real-World Federal PACS Integration Insight
We understand both ICAM identity flows and the design of physical access systems. - HUBZone Certified
Eligible for federal subcontracting incentives and set-aside partnerships.We help vendors reduce evaluation risk, accelerate time-to-listing, and deliver PACS products that federal agencies can trust.
- PACS manufacturers
- Access control software vendors
- Validation system developers
- Reader manufacturers
- Cloud PACS providers
- System integrators pursuing federal markets
- OEMs building ICAM-aligned solutions
