Farpointe Data has improved security, allowing access control manufacturers and integrators to provide their customers with a way to protect their card-based systems from skimming, eavesdropping and relay attacks.

Skimming is unauthorized access to information on a victim’s RFID card or tag without consent. From that point on, the attacker can control when and where unauthorized entries may occur. An eavesdropping attacker recovers the data sent during a transaction between the legitimate reader and card. In a relay attack, the invader relays communication between the reader and a tag which lets the attacker temporarily possess a “clone” of a token, thereby allowing the assailant to gain the associated benefits.

“What’s scary about all this is that the equipment used to perpetrate the above attacks can be quite inexpensive and is widely available,” said Scott Lindley, Fairpointe Data president. “For organizations worried about such invasions of their proximity or smart card systems, access control system manufacturers and leading integrators that deploy Fairpointe proximity/smart cards and readers can provide increased security with our MAXSecure option.”

MAXSecure provides a high-security handshake, or code, between the card, tag and reader to help prevent credential duplication and ensure readers will collect data from only these specially coded credentials. “For those familiar with mechanical access control, it is the electronic security equivalent of a mechanical key management system, in which a specific organization is the only one that has the individual key they use. Such keys are available only through their integrator, and their integrator never provides another company with the same key.

“In the MAXSecure electronic access control scenario, no other company will have the reader/card combination that a specific organization gets from their integrator. Only their exclusive reader will be able to read their exclusive card or tag, and their reader will read no other card or tag,” Lindley said.

MAXSecure is available with Farpointe Pyramid proximity cards and readers and Delta smart cards and readers.

 For information, visit www.farpointedata.com.­