The machine responds affirmatively, and the woman continues her interaction. What is different about this activity is that the woman is sitting at her PC, and using a smart card to authenticate herself to the network. Later, she might use the same smart card to purchase a book from Amazon.
Smart cards are to credit cards what a computer is to a slide rule.
Smart cards can perform authentication, encryption, provide keys, certificates, medical information, and even hold the equivalent of money. What makes all of this possible is a tiny, embedded microprocessor and some supporting circuitry in a package that most commonly resembles a credit card. Comparatively cheap, soon to be ubiquitous, the smart card will likely become an important part of the security of your network in the near future. Yet smartcards are not without their problems. Compared to a desktop computer, smartcards are extremely limited in their capabilities, vulnerable to invasive and non-invasive attacks, and suffering from a multiplicity of standards.