What happened
On 30 June 2026, NIST published the fourth instalment in its Cybersecurity Insights blog series on Verifiable Digital Credentials (VDCs). This post addresses credential presentment — how a holder presents an ISO/IEC mdoc credential to a verifier in both in-person (device-to-device, ISO/IEC 18013-5) and online (ISO/IEC 18013-7 remote presentation) contexts. It explains the technical and trust differences between the two presentation modes and addresses wallet/device requirements for supporting both. This is companion interpretive material to the ISO/IEC mdoc standards and NIST's broader VDC programme.
Why it matters
VDCs (including mobile driver's licences) underpin identity assurance for AI agent authentication, access control, and zero-trust architectures. NIST's ongoing series provides authoritative interpretation of the ISO/IEC 18013 standards for US government and industry implementers — relevant to any AI system that relies on digital identity presentment for user authentication or agent-to-agent trust.
Action needed
Monitor the full NIST VDC blog series for emerging implementation guidance. Organisations building AI agent identity or mDL-based authentication should align wallet design with both ISO/IEC 18013-5 and 18013-7 presentation modes.