Hello,

 I'm looking at an authentication method which ties a user down to hardware, I believe virtual smart cards can achieve this, what I'd like to know is:

- All of the examples I've seen refer to a PIN, however in practice can I enforce users to pick a regular 8 character password for their PIN and virtual smart card?

- Is it possible to combine a password and PIN with a virtual smart card?

- I have a scenario whereby I want to lend out laptops to remote staff, but must ensure only authorized users login to the laptops. If I enable virtual smart cards and force 8 character pins on the device, does this meet the requirement? I want to ensure it's impossible for user Z to pick up the laptop, bring it into the office, plug a network cable in and login as he normally would to any domain joined PC.

Thanks

• Edited by Peter.Siffredi Monday, August 24, 2015 8:45 AM

Ok, I've just been through the walk through guide, but hit a major issue:

1. The user needs administrator credentials to create a virtual smart card - not a security best practice

2. If I create a new virtual smart card for a user, the creation allows me to choose a PIN, but every time I go to logon with that smart card, the smart card only allows logon using the first PIN entered (i.e. the first user to setup a VSC on the laptop) - there doesn't seem to be a tool to change the PIN for the next user

3. I get a message "signing in with a security device isn't supported for your account. For more info, contact your administrator"

I've been through the official Ms guide and the brief walkthrough here, but it doesn't help with the above - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn579260.aspx