>> USB key authentication on OSX (10.3)

I’ve been waiting for that product for ages, a usb key for authentication on my computers. I even thought of paying a company to develop the drivers and softwares.
But why USB key for authentication? Well there many ways of bypassing OSX authentication mecanismes, and that made me really nervous!
The main reason is that I think that login/password process is getting way to old and I was bored typing very long and complex passwords.

First of all the usb key is NOT a storage key, it’s a token that that allow you logon one or several computers with one usb2 key.
The price is fair $99 and you get a nice box with a setup cd and 2 USB 2 keys. On the other hand in case you loose the 2 keys, you can ask Griffin Technologies to resend you a key which mean they can store the token.

::Installation::

The installation process is easy, I mean like any installation on OSX. The pkg will install a 377ko packadge on your system, then a setup wizard will setup the key for you. The only options you will have to choose when the securikey token is removed are: switch to login window (default option), logout user, or shutdown the computer. After you’ll review your settings and will be prompt to reboot.

A control panel is installed to activate or desactivate the token with various options. You can add users, change options and more.

After rebooting you will have to insert the usb key AND type your password. If you select the default option during the wizard fast user switching will be activate.
There’re few minor bugs: I activated expos? with hot corners and they’re not usabele anymore, files on my desktop are not clickable anymore but still I can access them with browsing the files with the files. After a second reboot everything was solved.

A good product finally available for Mac OS 10.3 from [url=http://www.securikey.com/]Griffin Technologie[/url] to keep your workstation(s) or server safe(r).

[b]9/21/04 update[/b]: if you loose your securikey you’re not totaly lost. During the install process the token (some kind of unique ID) will be stored at by Griffin Tech so if you loose it they’ll be able to send you by blue mail another usb key in exchange of few dollars. Is it bad to store the token at Griffin? Well it won’t allow any remote access to your computer.
Worst case scenario: they have to get to travel to your location, get physical access to your computer, guess the password…That’s a lot of “IF” 🙂