Java smart card authenticaton PKI

Question

I'm building a Play! framework application and i'm required to implement a pki authentication with a smart card. I've been searching for a few weeks and can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. I want that with the client entering the site a window will pop that enables the client to enter his smart card PIN code in order for him to authenticate to the app. After the client enters his PIN code the app will verify him if the code is right and recieve the identity from the card and from that point he will be able to continue freely.

Answer 1

Your web application can not interact directly with your smartcard as it is executed in the sandbox of the browser. There is no built in API in JavaScript/HTML5 to access smartcard.

So you have to build a bridge between your smartcard and your application. The most common in java is to build an applet that will interact with hardware and expose Javascript methods.

I recommend this article to be read : http://tech.springcard.com/2010/java-pcsc-accessing-smartcards-from-a-web-page/