password fob : Java Glossary

by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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password fob

Sometimes known as a security token, or identity tokens, these are electronic keys you can put on your keychain to hold your passwords. You usually have to enter a pin number to activate it, so you combine two locks -- something you have and something you know, to login, unlock encrypted files etc. Sometimes they have an internal clock that changes the passwords every minute for further security. The passwords or passphrases can be huge, untypeable and unguessable.

Further, schemes can be set up so the fob never divulges its private keys to anyone, just answers challenges to prove it knows them. The same fob can be used for many purposes. It is designed to destruct rather than divulge its private keys.

Thumbdrives can hold 64+ megabytes of additional information, and can be used for securely transferring information from one place to another.

Other sorts of digital id are based on scanning fingerprints or the iris of the eye, but they are obviously much more expensive technology.

Aladdin eToken
DataKey
iButtons
Rainbow iKey
RSA SecurID
thumbdrive

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