How to Use CardSpace in Windows 7

GGarza | Sep 28, 2009 | Comments

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CardSpace is a program that has been around since Vista. It is designed to provide you with identification when connecting to websites. There are two kinds of CardSpace – personal and managed.

One of the points of using CardSpace is to provide authentication, to prevent imposters, someone from pretending to be you; this is a personal CardSpace. But on the other hand, it is to affirm that you are who you say you are, to prevent you from pretending to someone you are not, this is a managed CardSpace.

Parties that you relate to may want certain information from you. They may want a social security number, an address, a drivers license number. That would be personal. However, other parties, may want to do more, to manage your involvement with them. For example, if you try to withdraw money from an ATM machine, they may be interested in who you are, your authentication presence, but also whether you have money in your account, your managed presence.

How to Set Up Card Space in Windows7

To begin go to Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts

Contro Panel

Select Windows CardSpace

User Accounts

Add A Card

Add A Card - Personal Card

[Add A Card- Personal Card]

Create/Edit a New Personal Card

[Edit A New Card]

Preview a Card

The personal card is now complete. The CardSpace will now work with any site that accepts CardSpace, but at this point not all do.

[Select A Card to Preview]

The second type of CardSpace is the managed card. It works on the principle that not only must you be who you say you are, you are restricted from doing anything unless you can prove that you are not restricted. For example, a man goes into a store and is interested in buying a sixpack of beer. He has the money, that’s not the only issue, the other issue, is whether he is old enough. A state’s drivers license would verify that he was (or wasn’t). That is a managed account. Here is how that managed CardSpace is created.

Install A Managed Card

[Install A Managed Card]

To create cards for use with CardSpace, the Identity Provider must generate a file that contains the card data and the file must have a .crd extension.

Object Tag Samples: The Information Card

[ObjectTagSamples]

Information Card

[InformationCard.crd]

Choose A Managed Card To Install

[ChooseAManagedCardToInstall]

Save This Card

[SaveThisCard]

Select Card To Preview with Managed Card

[SelectCardToPreview]

Card Details

[CardDetails]

The CardSpace is a good way to access information with authentication provided for the user. As more websites insist on authentication, CardSpace will be a good authentication management tool.

Sources:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/cardspace/demos.mspx

https://cards.bandit-project.org/BanditIdP/index.jsp?option=createaccount&action=selectInfocard

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