WASHINGTON—There’s no higher security detail than presidential protection, but on Nov. 24 the system designed to protect the country’s leader broke down—and in a very public way. After two uninvited persons, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, reportedly bypassed security procedures and gained access to the Presidential state dinner, concern arose about how such a flagrant lapse in security could happen at the highest level.

A hearing by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee has been scheduled for Dec. 3 to investigate how such a breach occurred and will include testimony from members of the U.S. Secret Service, which was charged with securing the event, as well as the Salahis, who the AP is reporting deny they were in fact “gate crashers.”

If the White House account is true, that the Salahis were uninvited and yet attended the event with numerous domestic and foreign dignitaries, a security breach at this level is “definitely a cause of concern,” said Richard Chapman, managing director at Insite Security and a former lieutenant with the New York Police Department. While at the NYPD, Chapman was the commanding officer charged with dignitary protection and said that securing an event of this magnitude requires a significant amount of preparedness, due diligence and proper execution.

However, events with this type of star power do pose unique challenges for security. “There’s a lot of important people who go to those events,” he said. However, just because a person is famous or holds an important position, or, worse, claims to hold an important position, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be subjected to the same kind of security rigor. “It’s not difficult to treat people with respect and maintain security,” Chapman said.

Failing to conduct proper due diligence is where the breakdown occurred after Secret Service agents allegedly neglected to verify the identity and invitation of the two persons. “There’s a lot of security involved and this incident makes it look ineffective, but I don’t think it is,” Chapman said. “The Secret Service does a good job and I don’t know what broke down, but this certainly gives the impression that something is missing.”

What might be missing is the use of improved technology to ensure that security measures are effective, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, a non-profit association that works to promote the adoption of smart card technology. “The challenge security officers have is they have to rely on their own judgment to determine whether an identity credential presented to them has not been altered or ensuring that the person using it is the person it was issued to,” Vanderhoof said. “The way to address this type of security lapse is to take the decision out of the hand of the security guard or police officer or law enforcement official and instead rely on technology to do a validation of the information.”

Vanderhoof said that adopting smart card technology similar to what is used by federal government employees could help ensure that only people who have been properly vetted are allowed entrance into such events.

However Vanderhoof acknowledged that integrating this type of technology wouldn’t be simple. “In the case of the White House dinner it would be a little more complex to issue and get people registered and providing them a secured credential, but it isn’t something done in a day,” he said. The process for vetting and conducting background checks for these events can be a lengthy and time-consuming process in the first place, and Vanderhoof said it would certainly be plausible to issue credentials as well.

Until the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee completes its investigation into the incident, Insite’s Chapman said that it was fortunate that the two individuals were only there for social glory and didn’t have ill intentions. Hopefully, he said, this event will be a lesson learned for the Secret Service to improve its procedures and will not empower other people to attempt to bypass security.