What use a smart card reader?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/31922512

I recently picked up an older but perfectly adequate HP Z Book Firefly with a built-in smart card reader and I'm wondering what possible use is this little bit of tech? Can I, like, auth with my credit card or whatever? (mostly joking, I briefly looked at the PAM config for that and prefer my current hobbies lol)

4 points · 2 comments · view on lemmy.world

2 Comments

jaredj@infosec.pub · 1 pts · 331d (1 reply)

openpgp smartcard https://www.floss-shop.de/de/security-privacy/smartcards/

smartcards + computers didn't really pick up in the US outside the Department of Defense, which issued them. now that FIDO tokens are here, everybody's got a USB socket but not many people have a smartcard reader.

it's mostly just a very flat serial port

BonkTheAnnoyed@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 330d

Neat! I may play around with this.