The addition of a smart card upgrades your authentication method(s) to a more robust, two-factor security system. The user only has to remember one PIN that unlocks the smart card to access the network through a password, dynamic password, VPN or other authentication/authorization methods.
Smart cards simplify the user experience by providing a single device that supports multiple authentication products across the enterprise. The reliance on multiple authentication methods burdens users with several hard-to-remember PINs or passwords and creates an administrative nightmare for IT staff. To safeguard e-business operations, they often employ multiple technologies for controlling access to enterprise networks and for securing data shared over these networks. CardWerk can help you find the right system for your business or organization.Įnhanced Security for a Complete Range of Enterprise Authentication MethodsĬorporations are quickly moving business processes online to increase productivity and to improve customer service. Only experienced companies can keep up with a constantly growing list of authentication and security solutions that must be supported. If you are using commercial smart card systems, make sure that both smart card and middleware are standards-based. In this case, biometric templates are securely stored on a smart card to prove the cardholder’s identity.Įnterprises benefit from enhanced security for their existing authentication methods while also taking advantage of smart card protection for PKI-enabled applications or simplifying any future migration to PKI. Some enterprises add a biometric smart card reader to their systems to have a third factor of authentication (the “something you are”).
Additionally, they can be used for Windows log-on, VPNs, web authorization, public key encryption, e-mail encryption and digital signatures.
Smart cards allow machine-generated passwords and secure, convenient, portable storage for certificates and private keys. Most of the time this is done via middleware and cryptographic libraries such as cryptographic service providers (CSP), minidrivers and PKCS#11 libraries.Ī PIN only shows that you know a secret, but biometrics can prove that you are the person you claim to be. Smart cards add a second factor of authentication to existing systems (the “something you have”).
Smart card systems come with broad support for an enterprise’s existing password or certificate-based authentication mechanisms. Smart card systems can simultaneously provide logical access control and physical access control, enabling the same credential to both open a door and access a computer system. Various forms such as key fobs or smart card-based hardware tokens are also utilized. If it is not under warranty, then you would need to buy yourself another smart card reader.Commercial smart card systems provide logical access control to computers, networks, and resources. Most smart card systems contains a credit card-sized ISO7816 compliant smart card. If you are still under warranty, take it back to the store and exchange it for a working card reader. If all else fails, your card reader is probably broken. Try using another USB port on the same computer and see if it doesn’t work from there. A Broken USB PortĪ similar problem occurs when the USB port that the card reader is plugged into has broken down and does not read the card reader properly.
You can also update all Windows drivers on your computer then restart it again. Try plugging in the smart card reader into another computer and see if the card reader still won’t work. The computer might not be recognizing the card reader as it should. If it has been scratched, it might not be repairable. If it is dirty, wipe it clean with a dry, soft cloth and try again. Also, these kinds of cards can be kept inside wallets or purses and be scratched or dirtied. They break easily from the wear and tear of daily usage.
Because a smart card is a microchip, it is very delicate and easy to break. If a smart card reader that is attached to a computer via USB stops reading smart cards altogether, the problem might not even rest with the smart card reader. Here are some common problems have risen with the many uses of smart card readers. Depending on the purpose of readers, they can be designed only as a relay of information to its main host (the computer) or to decode information and act on that information independent of a host. Smart card readers mainly act as a medium between a computer or a terminal to the smart card. Whenever the credit card is swiped, the reader will be able to access data from the smart card. An example of a contact smart card is a credit card that has the smart chip implanted in its plastic.