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Prox card, proxie card, keycard, hid card, smart card, access badge, corporate 1000 card, 26 bit card – whatever you call it, the 125 kHz radio frequency card is still the most widely used card for electronic access in North America. Unfortunately, few people are aware of recent developments that threaten the security status of these familiar cards.
The word “prox” is an abbreviation of “proximity,” which just means “near.” Proximity cards are a significant upgrade for users of mag stripe or Wiegand access cards, which have to be swiped through a reader. Prox cards only need to be held near a reader to open a door, and they work through a wallet, purse, pants pocket or whatever else they are in at the time. Cardholders have enjoyed the convenience of prox cards for nearly three decades. |
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Cloning Prox is easy as 1-2-3
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What to consider when migrating to
Contactless Smart Cards from Mag Stripe Cards?
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by: David Stallsmith Director of Product Management Just about everyone in North America is familiar with plastic cards with mag stripes embedded in them. We use them for payments, door access and authentication to many different systems such as loyalty programs and employee time-and-attendance. |
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Mag stripe card technology is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and it still works well. However, many institutions are moving away from mag stripes for a number of reasons: they can be damaged by abrasion or being near magnetic fields; mag stripe readers become unreliable when dirty or worn; and, most importantly, the security of mag stripe data is nonexistent. Mag stripe cards can very easily be replicated because there is no inherent security for the data stored on the cards. The financial industry has spent a lot of money to move to much more secure EMV chip cards, while many other institutions are moving to secure contactless cards and readers for physical access.
Magnetic stripes come in the form of a tape that is applied to clear laminate sheets and after stacking the artwork, composite materials together heat and pressure combine all the layers into one sheet. They are then cut into industry standard CR80 (2.125 inch x 3.37 inch) cardstock.
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Contactless smart cards are manufactured from prelaminated sheets that contain multiple inlays of the same specification. A standard prelam layout would be called a "40-up sheet". This sheet would have 4 inlays wide by 10 inlays tall.
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When planning a migration from mag stripe to contactless cards and readers, here are the questions that require decisions and resources:
1. What is the make-up of our reader infrastructure, and how will we upgrade it?
Assessing your reader infrastructure is an important part of determining your migration strategy. Knowing how many readers are in use and the quantities of each type of reader will give you the numbers you need to compute the costs of the two primary approaches to migration – replace all the cards and/or readers at once, or replace them over an extended period. Be sure to count all the readers that you would consider upgrading to the new card technology. Reader upgrade priorities typically occur in this order: wall-mount readers for door access, any electronic locks that can be upgraded, mag stripe readers at point-of sale terminals, and time-and-attendance terminals.
2. Should we replace our cards over an extended period, or all at once?
With an idea of how your institution would like to replace readers over time, you can plan your card replacement strategy. If you decide to upgrade all your cards at one time, you may want to enlist the services of a professional service bureau to help with this one-time card production process. On the other hand, you may decide to replace cards by group or to issue the new cards to people as they join your organization over a multi-year period.
3. How will our new cards be configured to accommodate our migration plan?
When choosing the configuration of the new cards, it is important to remember that nearly all newer contactless card types can continue to carry mag stripes. This can be part of your migration strategy, since mag stripes on the new cards can be used on existing readers while the reader infrastructure is upgraded. In many cases, mag stripes will continue to be used at time-and-attendance and payment terminals, which often have built-in mag stripe readers.
4. What will new technology cards cost?
Contactless chip cards can vary considerably in price, depending on the chip technology. Older versions of contactless card chips are still available for cards with mag stripes at prices fairly comparable to mag stripe-only cards, though their security is known to be compromised. Other more advanced and secure contactless technology cards with mag stripes are more expensive, depending on the card programming and their compatibility with readers from various manufacturers. There is certainly a bit of “sticker shock” when first considering secure, modern contactless cards, after decades of purchasing mag stripe-only cards.
5. What changes will we have to make to our card production and ID management system?
There is a shift in the personalization process when moving from mag stripe cards to contactless cards. Mag stripes are nearly always encoded inline in the ID printer as part of the printing process. When the card exits the printer, it is ready to be handed to the new cardholder. Though there are some solutions that program contactless chips and mag stripes inline, typically contactless cards are pre-encoded with data that is designed to be read by a specific manufacturer’s access control or other types of readers. This data from each card must be captured during the issuance process and bound to the record of the corresponding cardholder. There are ID software products that support inline data capture during printing, and which manage the transmittal of that data to the record for that cardholder in the database. In some instances, configuring inline data capture during printing is impractical and the pre-programmed numbers can be read at a desktop reader which keystrokes the data into a field in the appropriate application.
ColorID has 20 years of experience in guiding institutions of all sizes through the card migration process. We can help in assessing your infrastructure and planning an upgrade path according to your requirements. Because the design of the new card issuance process can be particularly challenging, we work with a variety of manufacturing partners to offer a wide range of solutions.
1. What is the make-up of our reader infrastructure, and how will we upgrade it?
Assessing your reader infrastructure is an important part of determining your migration strategy. Knowing how many readers are in use and the quantities of each type of reader will give you the numbers you need to compute the costs of the two primary approaches to migration – replace all the cards and/or readers at once, or replace them over an extended period. Be sure to count all the readers that you would consider upgrading to the new card technology. Reader upgrade priorities typically occur in this order: wall-mount readers for door access, any electronic locks that can be upgraded, mag stripe readers at point-of sale terminals, and time-and-attendance terminals.
2. Should we replace our cards over an extended period, or all at once?
With an idea of how your institution would like to replace readers over time, you can plan your card replacement strategy. If you decide to upgrade all your cards at one time, you may want to enlist the services of a professional service bureau to help with this one-time card production process. On the other hand, you may decide to replace cards by group or to issue the new cards to people as they join your organization over a multi-year period.
3. How will our new cards be configured to accommodate our migration plan?
When choosing the configuration of the new cards, it is important to remember that nearly all newer contactless card types can continue to carry mag stripes. This can be part of your migration strategy, since mag stripes on the new cards can be used on existing readers while the reader infrastructure is upgraded. In many cases, mag stripes will continue to be used at time-and-attendance and payment terminals, which often have built-in mag stripe readers.
4. What will new technology cards cost?
Contactless chip cards can vary considerably in price, depending on the chip technology. Older versions of contactless card chips are still available for cards with mag stripes at prices fairly comparable to mag stripe-only cards, though their security is known to be compromised. Other more advanced and secure contactless technology cards with mag stripes are more expensive, depending on the card programming and their compatibility with readers from various manufacturers. There is certainly a bit of “sticker shock” when first considering secure, modern contactless cards, after decades of purchasing mag stripe-only cards.
5. What changes will we have to make to our card production and ID management system?
There is a shift in the personalization process when moving from mag stripe cards to contactless cards. Mag stripes are nearly always encoded inline in the ID printer as part of the printing process. When the card exits the printer, it is ready to be handed to the new cardholder. Though there are some solutions that program contactless chips and mag stripes inline, typically contactless cards are pre-encoded with data that is designed to be read by a specific manufacturer’s access control or other types of readers. This data from each card must be captured during the issuance process and bound to the record of the corresponding cardholder. There are ID software products that support inline data capture during printing, and which manage the transmittal of that data to the record for that cardholder in the database. In some instances, configuring inline data capture during printing is impractical and the pre-programmed numbers can be read at a desktop reader which keystrokes the data into a field in the appropriate application.
ColorID has 20 years of experience in guiding institutions of all sizes through the card migration process. We can help in assessing your infrastructure and planning an upgrade path according to your requirements. Because the design of the new card issuance process can be particularly challenging, we work with a variety of manufacturing partners to offer a wide range of solutions.
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