Cryptoucan™ usage: Changing PIN codes on Windows

Written by Lída Hrnčířová on May 30, 2019.

It’s important to set your own PIN codes once you get your Cryptoucan™. In this article you’re going to learn how to do it on Windows using Thunderbird. You can also see all the steps of this process in the instructional video at the bottom of this post.

Setting up your own PIN codes known only to you is the most important step to be perfectly sure your encryption keys are safe. It’s such a simple process it would be a shame to pass on it.
There are two PINs[1] you can change:

  • user PIN1 – used for common operations like signing and decryption,
  • administrative PIN3 – used for generating keys or recovering user PIN1.

You can change both of these in the same way, with only small changes in the process.

If you want to see the video, click here.

Changing the PINs

We’re using Thunderbird and Enigmail to change the PINs.
After opening Thunderbird, click the menu button at the top right corner of the window, choose Enigmail and select Key management option inside.

In the following window proceed with File at the top bar and then choose Manage smartcard option.

Click SmartCard menu item in the next window and then proceed with Change PIN option.

Now we got to the final window of this process. Here you can choose which PIN code you want to change:

  • Change PIN simply means User PIN 1,
  • Change Admin PIN means administrative PIN 3.

Picture 1: The option window

Choose whichever option you want, the process will be pretty much the same from now on.
Once you choose which PIN you want to change, click OK.
Enigmail will ask you to enter the current PIN first – enter the current PIN (either 1 or 3, depends on which one you’re changing) using Cryptoucan’s™ keypad and confirm it by clicking the hexagon symbol at the bottom right corner of the keypad.
Enter the new PIN right away. After confirming it with the hexagon symbol, enter it again to make sure there are no typos in the PIN.

Picture 2: Process of changing the PIN code

Once the window asking you to enter your PIN codes disappears, the process is done. Make sure you disconnect your Cryptoucan and connect it again to safely lock your device.
Now you can start using your device with the new codes you just set up!

Here you can watch the video that will guide you through the whole process:

Video 1: Changing PIN

Thank you so much for reading, we will see you next week!

References

1. More info: PIN Management