Overview

The ATKey.Card is an interesting bit of technology. It’s the same height and width as an ID badge, however, it’s roughly 4.67x thicker. Along with that, it has a notch in the corner, but it’s not a typical location that an ID badge would be attached to a lanyard. The size also is not wide enough to accommodate the typical button-snap plastic loop of a badge holder; it’s designed for a smaller metal lanyard clip. While the AuthenTrend website shows some conceptual pictures of it hanging horizontal or vertical like a badge, it also will not easily fit within a plastic sleeve due to the width; you also need to be able to access the slide-out USB-A connector to charge and/or use the card.

With all of this, the card just feels a bit odd. The USB connector that extends from the side of it causes it to sag when inserted into a horizontal USB port; it seems having something like this hanging off the side of a laptop could be an easy breaking point. With all the technology packed into this card, I’m surprised it feels as light as it does in construction. There are multiple LED lights embedded into the card, which will light up and flash in different patterns depending on what you are doing with the card. Per AuthenTrends, the ATKey.Card will last through 100-150 fingerprint authentications between charges.

Available Features And Management

As far as features go, from a connectivity standpoint, this card is king – supporting both USB, NFC, and BLE as the means for connecting to your Windows device.

Beyond FIDO2, the card also supports FIDO U2F. There is a Windows Store app available from AuthenTrend for card management and providing firmware updates; I’m not sure how often firmware becomes available, but the card was up to date when I checked.

FIPS 140 Availability

AuthenTrend does not offer a FIPS-140 version.

Enrollment And Usage

Fingerprint enrollment was easier using the standalone enrollment mode on the key, helped by reading the directions. The Windows interface for fingerprint biometrics indicates to “lift and touch” the fingerprint reader several times, but when you look through the enrollment directions for the ATKey.Card, it indicates to rub your finger in a circular motion on the reader. There are also several led colors and patterns that the key may show depending on what you want to do with the card and what state it is in – these are useful, but to someone who hasn’t used this card before, it would be confusing to drop onto an end user without proper training.

The key enrolled in Azure AD without issue once I figured out how to operate it.

The key worked consistently after enrollment without issue.

The key was factory reset without issue.