It's A Revolution
The electronic key is gaining wide acceptance in North America
- By Minu Youngkin
- Jan 04, 2016
Opening a door with anything other than a metal key was once
unimaginable, but a growing number of openings are using an
electronic key. After years of hearing about the wide acceptance
of smart card technology in Europe and of its impending integration
in the United States, it appears that the smartcard revolution
has finally arrived.
In the 1990s, acceptance of smart technology in the United States lagged behind
Europe and Asia because the United States already possessed what at that time
was seen as a highly advanced telecommunications and banking network. Lack of
strong telecommunications infrastructures, increasing rates of identity fraud, and
the high cost of processing information drove Europe and Asia to quickly adopt
technology that could address these acute challenges.
Initially, most smart cards originally introduced in the U.S. were contact cards,
whose limitations generated increased access control system maintenance and chip
and reader damage. There was the perception of going backwards in technology
from proximity back to contact technology. This is just one of the many misconceptions
regarding the capabilities of and privacy issues related to the latest smart
card technology. However, as much of Asia and Europe has already adopted contactless
smart technologies as the new standard for security, transportation and
identity management systems, the question is no longer if or when smart technologies
will reach North American shores. They already have. The real question is
how to overcome those misconceptions and harness the power of this revolutionary
technology.
PROXIMITY VS. SMART CARDS
Proximity cards have long been the standard for access control credentials in the
United States. These credentials use RFID technology to communicate between
a card and reader. The reader translates the information from a card into a digital
format read by a host panel/computer that makes the decision to authorize a
person’s entry. These systems became widely accepted due to their convenience
(reading a credential presented within several inches of a door or reader) as well
as greater transaction security when compared to magnetic stripe and barcode
technologies.
Smartcards are typically credit card sized, plastic credentials containing a microprocessor
chip that serves the dual functions of communication and extensive
data storage. Although it is packaged in the form of a card, it operates like a personal
computer in that it can store data, manipulate data, and perform functions
like mathematical equations.
In the same way that keys unlock various rooms in a building, smart cards
normally contain application fields/sectors secured by special, application-specific
security keys. These sectors can contain information for various applications, such
as access control, cashless vending, mass transit and payment systems, securely
separated from one another by security keys.
Smartcard credentials can be contact or contactless. Contact cards are similar
in operation to mag-stripe cards in that they must be swiped or inserted into a
reader to be read. They are recognizable by the gold chip visible on the outside of
the card, which must make contact with the reader. If you recently received a new
credit or ATM card, you probably noticed one of these chips on the face of it.
Contactless smart cards use RFID technology, which may appear identical
in operation to a proximity card to the average user. However, contactless smart
cards have 100 times the information storage capacity, work on a different radio
frequency and have far greater data security than a traditional proximity card.
Although most new applications of smart cards appear to be heading toward contactless
smart technology, contact smart cards are still the standard for logical
(computer) access and other applications, such as payment systems.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRODUCT
Transitioning to contactless smart products now will avoid the use of obsolete
and outdated systems while providing the best avenue for system expandability in
the future. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to access
control and security, said Erik Larsen, national account manager—Electronic Integrators,
at Allegion. As always, the key is to achieve a balance.
“Typically, security, technology and usability are the key priorities,” Larsen
said. “The goal is to balance priorities for each organization. In a clean room environment,
for example, usability may be the driving priority because handling keys,
cards or keypads may not be conducive or convenient. In that scenario, the client
likely needs a biometric solution.”
“Many people try to select credentials by leading with the technology,” he said.
“Instead, they should be finding out about the user, the applications and the culture.
The right technology will follow once those things are understood.”
IMPLEMENTING A NEW SYSTEM
The smart card credential is used for more and more transactions beyond access
control such as vending, transit and logical identification. For example, the encoding
process will require more forethought and expertise on how to integrate credentials
with back-end software, financial/billing programs, ID systems, vendors and more.
Cards can either come pre-encoded from the factory, or companies can choose to
manage their own card issuances, with or without the help of an integrator.
“A smart card does not come out of the box ready to do everything it is capable
of doing,” said Derek Hileman, an access control consultant. “Oftentimes, the
client expects the integrator to encode the cards, but the reality is that architecting a smartcard is a specialty area of
integration. The integrator who installs
your hardware is not always the same
one who can encode your cards. These
are two different and distinct skill sets.”
Hileman likens a system integrator
to a general practitioner and a card integrator
to a specialty physician. And
the latter, he said, is a young, but growing
specialty among integrators.
If that specialty doesn’t exist within
your integration firm, Hileman recommends
forming partnerships and alliances
in order to successfully service a
client’s comprehensive security needs.
Matt McDaniel, Multicard CEO, a
full-service identification and security
integrator, said the planning of card
encoding starts well before the actual
process of it.
“Before you can encode cards, let
alone select the type of smartcard, you
must first go through a thoughtful process
that evaluates how the cards will
be used, whether that’s access control,
vending or printing,” McDaniel said.
“Then you have to figure out what
needs to happen on the back end to allow
the various transactions, as well as
how the transactions will be managed
on an ongoing basis.”
With so many technical details to
work through, the entire process can
take 12 to 18 months to implement.
While arduous, McDaniel said companies
are motivated to go through the
process and implement smartcards because
of their many benefits.
“The bottom line is that a smartcard
is like having a computer chip on
a card,” he said. “Even when customers
may feel like the process is long
and cumbersome, they stay the course
because they realize the significant
advantage of using a card with massive
data storage. Smartcards allow
organizations to enhance security, reduce
fraud, consolidate services and
save money over the long run. They
are more than worth the time investment
upfront to fully maximize their
functionality.”
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
Industry experts expect the trend of
using credentials for multiple transactions
to continue in an upward direction,
gaining more traction in the next
three to five years. A far more powerful
card, protected by superior data
transmission security, clearly presents
numerous advantages and potential applications
to explore. Consumers prefer
the simplicity of waving a card near a
reader to the archaic swipe method of
presentation. Vendors enjoy the benefits
of that simplicity, as well as the
lower maintenance inherently associated
with contactless systems.
The smartcard revolution is clearly
in full swing. Be sure to incorporate
this technology in your next credential
decision-making process.
This article originally appeared in the January 2016 issue of Security Today.