Smart Card Reader

[jral]

I have a new T410 which has a smart card reader.  I have no smart cards and really don't know much about them.  I do like the idea of using a smart card for added security.

How can I get setup with a smart card for logon & encryption?  What hardware/software? 

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Thx,

 Jral

[JDay]

I would like to know this as well since I thought the system would include one (HP includes them with their notebooks with this option) and I am planning on ordering a T510 with this option in the coming weeks. 

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

Software side of things are taken care by the thinkvantage CSS software.

The smartcard reader is something you order as an option when configure the laptop on lenovo online store.

[peteloo]

I ordered a T410 from the online Lenovo site and the only option was a contactless smart card rather than a 5-in-1 card reader.  Not knowing how this works, I paid for the small price for this reader.

Now I would like to know what size of memory card this works with.

SD cards are more prevalent and when I googled for smart card, the largest capacity is about 32Mb and this is small.

Are you able to provide some information on smart card usage?

Thanks

Peter

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

smart card reader is not a memory card, it is a security card size of credit card.

You can't use it as a memory card as such.

Get a usb card reader instead.

[JDay]

This is a smart card (CAC card really but the same thing). That chip on the front is similar to the type of chip that SIM cards use. You attach the card to your account and use it as a physical security credential that must be produced in order to login.

[jral]

Where can one obtain these smart cards?  I'd like to get one and experiment with using it for my laptop for authentication and encryption.  I've found the .NET card from Gemalto which can be order online, and it seems that it would do the trick, but I'm not sure.  Wondering what other sources there are and how easy this is to setup and use for a single machine without an IT department to support me.

[JDay · Accepted solution]

Any ISO 7816 compliant card should would work. The ACOS5 64/72KB PKI Card looks like a good one to get, appears to be designed for exactly this use. I think you can configure the card with ThinkVantage Client Security Solution, I'm not positive though since my T510 is still waiting on customs.

http://www.smartcardsupply.com/Content/Cards/ISO7816.htm

EDIT: I just found a list of supported smart cards on Lenovo's web site. I'm not sure if this list is up to date.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-66960

Suported smart cards types

Due to configuration requirements, only Softex smart cards are supported by this middleware. This version supports the following smart cards:

• Gemalto/Axalto Cyblerflex Access eGate 32K (PRO/PKI)
• G&D SmartCafe 64K (PRO/PKI)
• OmniPass 72K (PRO/PKI)
• JCOP 72K (PRO/PKI)

[onethinkpaduser]

Yea, if you purchased the common expresscard 54 smart card readers, those are mostly designed for ISO 7816 compliant smart cards.

So now you need smart cards your card reader can accept, so as mentioned above, you can get the ACOS5 PKI cards:

http://www.acs.com.hk (buy direct or via some third parties vendors)

or also the .Net Gemalto cards,

www.gemalto.com/ (buy direct)

or also Raak Smart Cards,

http://www.raaktechnologies.com/ (buy direct)

or there are other OEM smart card manufacturers that can do customization for you if you are ordering in bulk, etc. Just make sure they specify specifically ISO 7816 compliant cards as there are many smart card standards.

Software wise, Windows 7 has a lot of smart card support including certificate enrollment, etc. Sometimes you may need their manufacturer specific minidrivers and management software, etc. If you want to stay mostly with microsoft products with less reliance on third parties, the gemalto .net cards are perhaps most windows 7 natively supported cards as they come.

As for uses of smart cards, you can use them to store certificates that are used for authentication (windows logon or VPN) or email or file encryption etc. Windows can be logged on natively using smart cards (goto group policy to turn this on) Alternatively you can use Thinkvantage client security to enroll your smart cards also.