VIRTUAL TOKEN FOR TRANSPARENTLY SELF-INSTALLING SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A virtual token for use in a virtual computer environment to implement the secure cryptographic facilities of a hardware security token within a computer without requiring custom installation or administrator privileges. The hardware security token contains an automatic installer for the virtual environment and the virtual token with the computer's operating system. When plugged into the computer the hardware security token automatically performs dynamic installation as necessary, providing secure cryptographic services to standard application programs already installed in the computer. The installation is transparent to the user, and requires no user attention or special access privileges. After the session is completed and the security token is removed from the computer, the virtual environment is effectively uninstalled from the host computer, also transparently to the user, without any user attention, and without making any modifications to the computer's operating system.