Patent ID: 8127142

Claim:
A portable token, comprising: a connector to connect with a client computer; and a body, connected to the connector, the body having a biometric sensor to receive biometric identity data of a user, a non-volatile memory storing biometric identity data of an enrolled user, a decryption key, and instructions to generate a secret, a processor, communicatively coupled to the biometric sensor and the non-volatile memory, to compare the received biometric identity data against the biometric identity data of the enrolled user and to execute the instructions to generate the secret responsive to a positive identification of the received biometric identity data of the user, a display communicatively coupled to the processor to display the secret, wherein the secret is disappeared after a predetermined timeout value, and a switch communicatively coupled to the portion of the non-volatile memory containing the decryption key and the connector, wherein the switch allows access to the decryption key only when an indication is received from the client computer indicating that the secret was positively identified and there is an active connection between the portable token and the client computer; otherwise, denies access to the decryption key wherein the decryption is used to decrypt encrypted data received from a server computer, the decryption key is stored on the portable token and never stored in any non-volatile memory of the client computer or the server computer.