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What's New in Smart Cards

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows® 7 includes new features that make smart cards easier to use and to deploy, and makes it possible to use smart cards to complete a greater variety of tasks. The new smart card features are available in all versions of Windows 7.

What's new in smart cards?

Windows 7 features enhanced support for smart card–related Plug and Play and the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) standard from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

This means that users of Windows 7 can use smart cards from vendors who have published their drivers through Windows Update without needing special middleware. These drivers are downloaded in the same way as drivers for other devices in Windows.

When a PIV-compliant smart card is inserted into a smart card reader, Windows attempts to download the driver from Windows Update. If an appropriate driver is not available from Windows Update, a PIV-compliant minidriver that is included with Windows 7 is used for the card.

Who will want to use smart cards?

Network administrators who want to enhance the security of the organization's computers, particularly portable computers used by remote users, will appreciate the simplified deployment and use scenarios made possible by smart card Plug and Play PIV support. Users will appreciate the ability to use smart cards to perform critical business tasks in a secure manner.

What are the benefits of the new and changed features?

The new smart card support options in Windows 7 include:

  • Encrypting drives with BitLocker Drive Encryption. In the Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate operating systems, users can choose to encrypt their removable media by turning on BitLocker and then choosing the smart card option to unlock the drive. At run time, Windows retrieves the correct minidriver for the smart card and allows the operation to complete.

  • Smart card domain logon by using the PKINIT protocol. In Windows 7, the correct minidriver for a smart card is retrieved automatically, enabling a new smart card to authenticate to the domain without requiring the user to install or configure additional middleware.

  • Document and e-mail signing. Windows 7 users can rely on Windows to retrieve the correct minidriver for a smart card at run time to sign an e-mail or document. In addition, XML Paper Specification (XPS) documents can be signed without the need for additional software.

  • Use with line-of-business applications. In Windows 7, any application that uses Cryptography Next Generation (CNG) or CryptoAPI to enable the application to use certificates can rely on Windows to retrieve the correct minidriver for a smart card at run time so that no additional middleware is needed.

What's the impact of these changes on smart card usage?

Smart card usage is expanding rapidly. To encourage more organizations and users to adopt smart cards for enhanced security, the process to provision and use new smart cards is simplified and supports more end user scenarios.