1 - Introduction
Dynamag Duo| Secure Card Reader Authenticator | Installation and Operation Manual
Page 7 of 23 (
D998200203-10
)
1
Introduction
1.1
About Dynamag Duo
MagTek’s Dynamag Duo, a secure card reader authenticator (SCRA), is a compact magnetic stripe card
reader that conforms to ISO standards. In addition to reading multiple tracks of data from either side of a
card, the device also includes MagnePrint technology. MagnePrint data is included with the track data on
each transaction. The devices are compatible with any host with a USB interface. Cardholders can swipe
their cards in either direction, facing either way.
An LED (Light Emitting Diode) indicator on the device cover provides the cardholder and operator with
continuous status of device operations.
The device conforms to the USB HID (Human Interface Device) Class specification Version 1.1, making
it forward-compatible with subsequent USB HID hosts and hubs. This allows host applications designed
for most versions of Windows to easily communicate to the device using native platform SDKs.
The device can be operated in two different modes:
HID (herein referred to as “HID mode”) and
HID with Keyboard Emulation (herein referred to as “KB mode”)
When operating in HID mode, the device behaves like a vendor-defined HID device so the host software
can communicate directly with the device, without interference from other HID devices.
When set to Keyboard Emulation (KB) mode, the device emulates a USB HID United States keyboard by
default, or can be configured to use any international keyboard mapping using ALT ASCII code keypad
key combinations or customizable key maps. This allows host software designed to acquire card data
from keyboard input to seamlessly acquire card data from the device.
When in Keyboard Emulation mode, if another keyboard is connected to the same host as
the device and a key is pressed on the other keyboard while the device is transmitting,
then the data transmitted by the device may get corrupted.
When a cardholder swipes a card, the device encrypts track data and MagnePrint information with the
TDEA (Triple Data Encryption Algorithm, aka, Triple DES) using DUKPT (Derived Unique Key Per
Transaction) key management. This method of key management uses a base derivation key to encrypt a
key serial number that produces an initial encryption key which is injected into the device prior to
deployment. After each transaction, the encryption key is modified per the DUKPT algorithm so each
transaction uses a unique key.
