RFID readers on every door
'Readers on door' refers to a locking solution where you present your RFID media to any individual door on the locker bank to unlock the door.
purpose
We want to make sure organizations understand the potential challenges with a reader on door solution when security is a key concern. Regardless of the vendor, we would like to inform and make sure that organizations are getting what they need and that the solution will meet their needs for today and into the future.
the challenges
1. generic readers
Readers on doors are going to be generic readers. This means they can only read the unencrypted Unique ID (or Card Serial Number). They do not read the encrypted data within the card.
2. whitelisting
When there is a generic reader, security is handled by maintaining a whitelist of all ‘allowed’ Unique IDs (Card Serial Numbers) for the campus or company and beyond.
Maintaining a whitelist is a challenge for a finite, small number of students or employees. But it becomes increasingly more challenging for a university or company with a large enrollment/employees and/or many buildings or facilities, plus faculty, visitors and/or collaborators.
Does your vendor easily support an API or service that is needed to maintain the whitelist? And how often does the list update or need to be updated?
3. different facilities
If you have a visitor or colleague coming to the university, company campus, or building that has a Student ID or company badge from another ‘allowed’ facility, that ID would have to be whitelisted for a period of time.
What is the process to do this and how would this work?
4. security hole
With a generic reader, you are relying on a up-to-date whitelist vs the HID security to determine a valid ID. This is essentially taking a secure HID environment and introducing a security hole. Consider this: using a credit card (similar technology) to open a locker in a ‘secure’ environment. We have seen this happen when the whitelist is not maintained properly.
read more about the challenges
considering the future
possible future state requirements
Understanding the progressive nature of universities and businesses today — we would envision wanting to have the latest and greatest tools and technology for their students/faculty members and employees. The following are some of the downfalls if genuine HID™ readers are not implemented as part of the solution:
- Because you are not using genuine HID readers, you will NOT have the ability to leverage student IDs/Badges within the Wallets on Phones (this functionality requires genuine HID readers).
- Because you are not using genuine HID readers, you will not have the ability to use Bluetooth (BLE) to open your lockers — nor will you have the ability to use wearables to open up lockers.
- Integrations with other apps could be a challenge because of the lack of HID integration (not being able to read the encrypted data).
- If the University/Business wants to migrate to HID Seos — the latest in next-generation credential technology — you would not be able to do so with readers on doors.
learn more about these challenges
Do you have a need for smarter locking?
Interested in learning more about the various ways to apply a smarter locking system to your locker applications? Contact us and we get in touch with you to learn more about your unique needs.
