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dongle
Last modified: Monday, August 11, 2003
A device that attaches to a computer to control access to a particular application. Dongles provide the most effective means of copy protection. Typically, the dongle attaches to a PC's parallel port. On Macintoshes, the dongle sometimes attaches to the ADB port. The dongle passes through all data coming through the port so it does not prevent the port from being used for other purposes. In fact, it's possible to attach several dongles to the same port.
Smartcard and illustration - article Byte Magazine article (June 1997) on the use of smartcards as a certificate solution. It highlights the iButton product from Dallas Semiconductor and contains a link to an illustration showing how smartcards work.
