Stop Typing Passwords: Secure Your Legacy Login via NFC Tap
In high-stakes environments like healthcare, manufacturing, and administration, “legacy” applications are often the backbone of daily operations. While these systems (such as T2med) remain business-critical, their login workflows are often stuck in the past—relying on manual password entry that is slow, prone to error, and difficult to secure.
The CodeB Credential Provider solves this by turning the Windows logon into a secure gatekeeper that automatically unlocks downstream applications, protected by the physical security of NFC.
The Friction of Legacy Logins
Legacy applications were rarely built for modern Single Sign-On (SSO). For a clinician or manager, this usually means a double-hurdle:
- Logging into Windows.
- Manually re-entering a username and password for each specific software tool.
In a busy clinic, this leads to “security fatigue.” Users might resort to weak passwords or keep applications logged in indefinitely to save time. This creates a significant vulnerability that standard password policies struggle to fix.
CodeB Credential Provider: The Secure Bridge
CodeB acts as a sophisticated intermediary. It replaces or augments the standard Windows login with a flexible, multi-factor system. By supporting NFC cards (MIFARE, DESFire), TOTP, and X.509 certificates, it ensures that the very first entry point to the workstation is ironclad.
Once the user is verified at the operating-system level, the CodeB WebSSO and Tray Application take over. They monitor for the launch of targeted applications (like T2med) and inject the necessary credentials automatically.
Why NFC is the Perfect “Second Factor”
Automation alone can be a risk if not properly anchored. By tying the automated login to an NFC token, CodeB creates a “Possession + Knowledge” security model:
- Possession: The user must have the physical NFC card or token.
- Knowledge: The user enters a PIN to unlock the card’s credentials.
The automated application login is never “just there”—it is triggered only by a verified, hardware-backed authentication event. If the user removes their card or logs out of Windows, the access bridge is instantly broken.
The New Workflow: Tap-and-Work
By resolving the conflict between usability and security, the daily routine for staff is transformed into a seamless sequence:
- Present NFC Card: The user taps their badge on the reader.
- Confirm with PIN: A quick PIN entry verifies the user.
- Secure Windows Logon: The workstation unlocks instantly.
- Automatic App Launch: As the user opens their legacy software (e.g., T2med), the login fields are populated and submitted automatically.
Conclusion: Future-Proofing Older Software
You don’t need to replace your entire software suite to meet modern security standards like GDPR or NIS2. By implementing the CodeB Credential Provider, organizations can wrap their legacy applications in a modern security layer.
The result is a workflow that is faster for the user and safer for the organization—demonstrating that high security doesn’t have to be a hurdle; it can be an accelerator.
How to start
- Download the CodeB Systray from: https://blog.codeb.io/downloads/codeb_tray.zip
- Unpack the zip archive and start the systray codeb_tray.exe (Ideally you start it as administrator on first usuage)
- Create the application profile with the ProfileGenerator.exe
- Assign Credentials with CodeBWebSSO.exe
- Please note that changes can take up to 30 seconds unless you restart the codeb_tray.exe