PKard Smart Card Reader
After about a month of testing Thursby’s PKard Smart Card Reader for iOS devices, I am happy to say I am rather impressed. The interface is smooth and clean, with only some minor glitches one would expect in v1.0 software. The two major functions that I use is the ability to CAC authentic to Outlook Web Access as well as Microsoft SharePoint and web sites. With PKard’s recent FIPS 140-2 compliance Thursby is taking all the right steps in the right direction.
The area’s were PKard still needs quite a bit of work is signing and encrypting emails, without this key capability, it is only a half solution to its target audience’s needs. The other area that really needs work is better handling of documents, especially PDF’s with a method to edit, digitally sign, and send within the product suite.
If Thursby really wants to step up their game and garner increased adoption, the usefulness of the product line would be to open and sign .xfdl files used by the Air Force and Army for many of the documents within the departments. IBM has stated they are not putting any effort in to an iOS app for the documents as they are moving to a server centric implementation that the Air Force and Army likely will not move to any time soon.
The bottom-line, the product is good, but does have plenty of room to grow!
