A Word of Caution

Avoid portals in your mobile access control implementation

  • By Scott Lindley
  • Aug 01, 2019

A special word of caution needs to be emphasized when changing over to mobile systems. Many legacy access control systems require the use of backend portal accounts.

For hackers, they have become rich, easy to access caches of sensitive end-user data. These older mobile systems force the user to register themselves and their integrators for every application with each registration requiring the disclosure of sensitive personal information.

The bookkeeping can be confusing. Who signs you up? Who is in charge of security? Does the end-user have responsibilities?

Oftentimes, these portals include hidden fees. What are these? One-time or annual fees? Are the rates fixed through the life of the system? Who’s responsible for paying? It can become both an integrator and end-user nightmare.

Even Governments Agree

For the past several years, there has been a focus by integrators and customers to assure that their card-based access control systems are secure. To give businesses an extra incentive to meet their cybersecurity threats, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to hold the business community responsible for failing to implement good cybersecurity practices and is now filing lawsuits against those that don’t.

Likewise, in Canada, data protection and cybersecurity are governed by a complex legal and regulatory framework. Failure to understand this framework and take active steps to reduce risks, or the impact of such risks when they materialize, can have serious legal and financial consequences for an organization.

In Europe, the Network and Information Security Directive (NISC) is the main strategy taken to harmonize continent-wide provisions on cybersecurity. As such, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is its center of expertise. The main goal is to set high standards of cybersecurity to be respected by each European Union (EU) member state.

Now, as leading international companies are learning how to protect card-based access control systems within these relatively new standards, along comes mobile access credentials and their readers which use smart phones instead of cards as the vehicle for carrying identification information. While many companies still incorrectly perceive that they are safer with a card, when done properly, the mobile can be a far more secure option with many more features to be leveraged. They deliver biometric capture and comparison as well as an array of communication capabilities from cellular and WiFi to Bluetooth LE and NFC.

Nonetheless, these portals yield a major caveat emptor with switching over to mobile access control. Newer answers provide an easier way to distribute credentials with features that allow the user to register their handset only once and need no other portal accounts, activation features or hidden fees. Users don’t need to fill out several different forms. Today, all that should be needed to activate newer systems is the phone number of the smartphone.

Why the Problem Has Been Portals

Too many providers seem to design systems around the way their legacy products are created, not in the way that is logical for the solution. Take, for instance, widgets. Wouldn’t it make sense to take advantage of the way that the Apple iOS 12 delivers them? Add 3D touch, Widget and Auto-Unlock all into the Wallet App? Create increased user convenience, not manufacturer’s expediency.

For instance, what if the newly improved Widget let the user make up to three mobile access control credentials as widgets. This saves time by allowing quicker access to credentials supporting divergent building systems such as payroll, parking and cafeteria systems accessible directly from the smartphone’s home screen.

With 3D Touch, a new pressure-sensitive feature, the user could simply push on the Wallet App to select from up to three of the most commonly used mobile credentials. Each user chooses their own combination. For example, a delivery driver may gain entrance to the van parking area while the vice president gets access to the boardroom.

Alternatively, Auto-Unlock could let a user select a certain MAC as their favorite. Once designated, a little star appears in the upper right corner of the mobile credential. As the favorite, it is transmitted immediately whenever the Wallet App is selected.

Don’t Forget How Products Get Sold Either

Smart phone credentials are best sold in the same manner as traditional 125-kHz proximity or 13.56-MHz smart cards—from the existing OEM to the integrator to the end users. In this distribution mode, integrators will find smart phone credentials will be more convenient, less expensive and more secure. They can be delivered in person or electronically. They are quicker to bill with nothing to inventory or to be stolen. End-users will find, in most cases, soft credentials can be easily integrated into their existing access control system. Distribution can also be via independent access control software.

When mobile credentials are sold from OEM to integrator to end user, it avoids setting up multiple accounts and eliminates sensitive personal information from being available for hacking. By removing these and additional intrusive information disclosures, vendors also eliminate privacy concerns that have been slowing down adoption of this technology. They are also protecting themselves from the wrath of governmental standards organizations.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Video Surveillance Trends to Watch

    With more organizations adding newer capabilities to their surveillance systems, it’s always important to remember the “basics” of system configuration and deployment, as well as the topline benefits of continually emerging technologies like AI and the cloud. Read Now

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services

  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.