Patent ID: 7003797

Claim:
A method for authenticating a personal identification number (PIN) comprising: obtaining one or more keycodes from a user via a keycode input device connected to a client; placing said keycodes in a buffer of said client when instructed by a server connected to said client and disconnecting said keycode input device from said server; sending said keycodes to a smart card coupled to said client, said smart card containing said PIN; and comparing said keycodes to said PIN in a smart card processor in said smart card to determine whether said keycodes match said PIN, wherein said smart card processor communicates to said server that said keycodes match said PIN if said keycodes match said PIN, wherein said client and said server comprise a virtual desktop system architecture such that said client consists of a plurality of user input devices, a plurality of output generation devices, and at least one network control block to communicate to said server, and such that said server performs substantially all data computations.