Symantec ID Card


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I have just gotten the ID card from PayPal which looks like this:

 

catalog-VIP004.jpg

 

It is about as thin as a credit card (Thinner in fact).  I know it has some ultra thin electronics in it to make it fit in the package itself, but I was just wondering if this will be durable enough to fit in my wallet where cards seem to take a lot of abuse and split after some time. 

 

Does anyone know how durable these are over time? 

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It will probably be durable enough to fit in your wallet. However, whether it is durable enough to withstand the day to day wear and tear that other contents of your wallet go through is another matter. If it is thinner than a credit/debit card and also has electronics inside of it, I would not expect it to be very durable. If you can put in your wallet where it will not be bent, you can give it a go but, if you rely on it a lot, it may not be worth the risk.

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Thanks Vanx!

 

That is what I was thinking and will mark this as solved, but I am curious as to if anybody who has one has put one of these through actual wallet abuse.  :)

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Thanks Vanx!

 

That is what I was thinking and will mark this as solved, but I am curious as to if anybody who has one has put one of these through actual wallet abuse.  :)

 

Thanks Medfordite  :)

 

Couldn't you just laminate the card?

 

Lamination may dust/spill/water-proof it, but I doubt that it will reduce the card's elasticity. For that, it will have to be encased in something rigid, which will probably add extra bulk and may make it pointless for keeping in a wallet.

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Lamination may dust/spill/water-proof it, but I doubt that it will reduce the card's elasticity. For that, it will have to be encased in something rigid, which will probably add extra bulk and may make it pointless for keeping in a wallet.

 

I can see that, but wouldn't it protect the card, too, from wear ant tear?

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Those cards has passed Visa and MasterCard certifications, so the card could be bent to a certain point... Some of those card are guaranteed for 2 years. A lot of companies are using this kind of cards for VPN access, bank access...

I have worked on this product many years ago (a french company invented it in 2006).

I have a lot of those cards on my desk, some are very old (more than 6 years) and the display is still working (bi stable display, like the kindle tablet).

It should be ok if you put the card in a wallet (in mine it's ok), but you said that a lot of your other cards are taking abuse in your wallet, so it should be the same for this card and this card may suffered...

 

J7GYnZk.jpg

 

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I can see that, but wouldn't it protect the card, too, from wear ant tear?

 

From typical wear and tear where it could rubbing against other things, yes. However, laminating it will increase its overall size to an extent where it could be subject to being bent.

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Hello,

 

Do you use PayPal when you are out and about and need to have the Symantec two-factor authentication card with you at all times?  If not, I would consider keeping it somewhere safe and nearby (but not at) your computer.

 

Ultimately, though, I would suggest calling PayPal customer service and asking them how the device should be carried.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

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Hello,

 

Do you use PayPal when you are out and about and need to have the Symantec two-factor authentication card with you at all times?  If not, I would consider keeping it somewhere safe and nearby (but not at) your computer.

 

Ultimately, though, I would suggest calling PayPal customer service and asking them how the device should be carried.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

I do not usually use PayPal outside of my main computer so I could technically keep the card at my desk stored away. My main curiosity was more about the durability of the card itself if I were to place it in my pocket.

does this do anything better than the open standard that you can put on your phone? seems like a big hassel for something that already exists.

As far as the Google Auth App on the phone, they do not use that.  Instead, it sends a text message to your phone which you then enter into their code box.  I see both that, and the Google Auth App as very similar as it is a single used token based on time. 

 

I do not always trust the Google Authenticator app, because I saw a small issue with it: 

 

I installed the app on both my phone and tablet, scanned in the QR code for the system I was wanting to log in with.  On the phone, and the tablet, there was roughly a 5 second delay between the phone and tablet with the code generation.  (even if I launched the app at the same time on both devices).   Since each time generation is 30 seconds in rotation, launching each app had it's own code.

 

On the phone for example, it would have a code of 984914, the tablet would have the code of 148556.  After the tablet code expired, it  would change over to the 984914, the phone would change over to a new code, later to be echoed by the tablet.  This for whatever reason bugs me. 

 

I own a Yubikey which I use on as many sites that support it allow.  It generates a OAUTH code which is never ever repeated.  If a keylogger for example was to read your password, they would be left with my username and password, and the 48char OAUTH code.   Since the code is now invalid, it will not allow a log-in. 

 

Another fascinating new secure authenticator I have run across is called "Clef" which is radically different. I have tried this  on some of my personal web sites I maintain and so far have been amazed at how slick the log-in is with that.  In short - you load the app on your phone, after the initial handshake with it, you no longer need to open the Clef App, simply click on on the button on your site and it syncs with the phone in the background. This articulates it way better than I ever could.  

 

 

 

 

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I do not usually use PayPal outside of my main computer so I could technically keep the card at my desk stored away. My main curiosity was more about the durability of the card itself if I were to place it in my pocket.

As far as the Google Auth App on the phone, they do not use that.  Instead, it sends a text message to your phone which you then enter into their code box.  I see both that, and the Google Auth App as very similar as it is a single used token based on time. 

 

I do not always trust the Google Authenticator app, because I saw a small issue with it: 

 

I installed the app on both my phone and tablet, scanned in the QR code for the system I was wanting to log in with.  On the phone, and the tablet, there was roughly a 5 second delay between the phone and tablet with the code generation.  (even if I launched the app at the same time on both devices).   Since each time generation is 30 seconds in rotation, launching each app had it's own code.

 

On the phone for example, it would have a code of 984914, the tablet would have the code of 148556.  After the tablet code expired, it  would change over to the 984914, the phone would change over to a new code, later to be echoed by the tablet.  This for whatever reason bugs me. 

 

I own a Yubikey which I use on as many sites that support it allow.  It generates a OAUTH code which is never ever repeated.  If a keylogger for example was to read your password, they would be left with my username and password, and the 48char OAUTH code.   Since the code is now invalid, it will not allow a log-in. 

 

Another fascinating new secure authenticator I have run across is called "Clef" which is radically different. I have tried this  on some of my personal web sites I maintain and so far have been amazed at how slick the log-in is with that.  In short - you load the app on your phone, after the initial handshake with it, you no longer need to open the Clef App, simply click on on the button on your site and it syncs with the phone in the background. This articulates it way better than I ever could. 

 

Ah, yea a physical card is better than text messaging. I use MS Authenticator which has an option to get time corrections from MS to rectify the phone's internal time, which is usually (if you leave it on automatic) pulled from the carrier and carriers just don't give a ###### about pesky little things like making sure the time is correct. I haven't come across any significant mismatch (the corrections are only a few seconds anyway). Interesting concept with Clef, I'll take a look.

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I have had basically the same thing in my wallet for over a year now and it is still fine. They are pretty tough little things. I have put one through the washing machine (it was in a pocket not my wallet!) and it still worked just fine :)

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I noticed that after having this in my wallet since I posted this, the LCD display is starting to go black as if it is getting cracked at the top.  I have since pulled it out of the wallet and have it in a safe place for when I need it.

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I don't think that is a display that can crack.

Yeah, I'm not really sure if it would be considered a crack, but it does show damage.

 

post-160102-0-22768900-1402928991.png

 

So, whatever you would want to call it, it did not survive being in my wallet very long.

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