Tokens are positively necessary to obtain and use the qualified certificates, the ones destined to code signing and those for trusted encryption. Such devices have small dimensions and may stay in the pocket or attached as an ornament to the house or car keys.
Smartcard
certSIGN recommends the SafeNet 330 smartcard
This type of smartcard is provided with software and hardware protection against the cryptographic attacks called „differential power” and „timing attacks”.
Features:
- ISO 7816 compliant format;
- SCCOS operation system;
- 32K EEPROM memory for a safe storage of the keys, passwords, certificates and data in general;
- DES processor for symmetrical encryption.
Cryptographic functions:
- DSA (1024-bits) keys generation;
- RSA (1024-bits and 2048-bits) keys generation;
- RSA algorithm for the electronic signature;
- DSA algorithm for the electronic signature;
- RSA algorithm for key exchange;
- Diffie-Hellman key exchange;
- SHA-1 algorithm;
- DES/3DES algorithm for encryption/decryption;
A smartcard is a plastic card similar to a credit card, with an embedded cryptographic chip.
The Smartcard needs a reader that connects to the USB ports, serial or PCMCIA. There are keyboards and laptops with embedded reader. The reader has to observe the PC/SC standard.
USB Token
It offers a higher degree of autonomy. The necessity of a reader is eliminated, as it integrates both the cryptographic processor and the reader.