A variant of malware called Sykipot is circulating that purportedly enables it to hijack U.S. Defense Department Common Access Cards and Windows smart cards, according to Alien Vault Labs. This variant, which appears to have been put together in March 2011, has been seen in dozens of attack samples from the past year.

PhoneFactor launched an app for smart phones and tablets that allow users to physically verify a transaction. The app pushes a notification to the user’s smart phone alerting the user a transaction is in process.

The U.S. government has settled an infringement case with Leighton Technologies by agreeing to license its smart cards.

Leighton Technologies, a subsidiary of General Patent, filed a case against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in January 2010. Leighton alleged that 54 federal agencies used its six smart card patents without authorization. Leighton’s technology was also used in e-passports.

New Zealand government agencies Inland Revenue and Work and Income have adopted biometric voice identification as a means of verifying people when they call into the agencies.