OT: smart card/USB dongle solution

[Ludovic Rousseau <ludovic.rousseau@free.fr>]

Le mercredi 03 décembre 2003 à 14:00:51, Russell Coker a écrit:
> I agree that smartcards would help a lot.  However as has been previously 
> suggested the cost of 1200+ smart-card readers is probably prohibitive.

I don't know how a USB dongle compares with a smart card reader
regarding price.

> I have sent a message to Werner asking if the GPG smart-card device could be 
> re-implemented with a USB interface.  I think that a USB dongle with GPG 
> technology would be a good option as most developer's machines already have 
> USB support.

You can also use a GemPC Key [1] smart card reader. A free software
driver for this reader exists [2].

The GemPC Key is nice since it has the form factor of a USB dongle and
still is a smart card reader (so with the security of the smart card).
The smart card is a plug-in model like you can find in GSM phones.

You can leave the smart card in the reader and remove the reader instead
of removing the card.

I am also aware of a cheaper product in which the smart card is soldered
in the reader. This product is not yet publicly available.

Regards,

[1] http://www.gemplus.com/products/gempckey/
[2] http://pcsclite.alioth.debian.org/ccid.html

-- 
 Dr. Ludovic Rousseau                        Ludovic.Rousseau@free.fr
 -- Normaliser Unix c'est comme pasteuriser le camembert, L.R. --