a portable mass storage device for use in two factor authentication systems and methods . a secure portable mass storage device protects content from being freely copied with security mechanisms and firmware . the security functionality also protects confidential user credentials and passwords , as well as algorithms and seeds needed for two factor authentication or asymmetric authentication methods . a client application residing in the mass storage device acts as both a password manager and an authentication manager that seamlessly performs the authentication procedures in the background while signing a user into various institutions of his choosing . a very high level of security is integrated into a mass storage device the user has for purposes other than two factor authentication , and the convenience of highly secure password management also comes in a convenient pocket sized package easy for the user to transport . this facilitates the acceptance of two factor authentication , and increases security for a wide variety of online transactions .