Deleting The Cryptographic Key - Digittrade HS256S User Manual

4.2 Deleting the cryptographic key

1. There are two ways of deleting the cryptographic key.
a) Deleting the cryptographic key by creating a new key
Please follow the steps in chapter 4.1. With this method the cryptographic key
can quickly be deleted without attracting attention in a dangerous situation as the
process hardly differs from the normal log-on process. The access to the data with
this smart card is now impossible and therefore also for the user.
b) Deleting the cryptographic key by entering the 8-digit PIN incorrectly 8 times
This method is more complicated but can be done intuitive and without the
knowledge of the PIN.
2. In both cases, only the cryptographic key is deleted on the respective smart
card. The remaining data on the hard drive is not damaged and still stored en-
crypted. If the user has the second smart card with the appropriate cryptographic
key and valid PIN, he can easily access this data again.
3. If one of the smart cards is lost or stolen, it is necessary to destroy the crypto-
graphic key completely. After a data backup on a separate data storage device, a
new cryptographic key will generated, the smart card will initialized to the HS256S
and the hard drive will overwritten with data. Unused data can be deleted after-
wards. Any copies of the old cryptographic key on other smart cards are then
useless.
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