Comment I have one of these implanted... (Score 1) 168
Currently I'm only using it to unlock my phone and eventually will be doing my home door locks as well (with manual key bypass of course) and maybe try rigging it up to the ignition of one of my bikes (for fun).
I really have a lot to say about these things and their potential use in security, but I'll keep my comments fairly short:
* The range on them is very, very poor (which isn't a bad thing) and if the device doing the reading doesn't have the right antenna, it can be awkward to use. Our cellphones, for example, are horrible at reading these cylindrical tags, making unlocking my phone somewhat awkward at times (I had a dream where just picking up my phone would unlock it... not quite there). Door locks on the other hand do a much better job (different form factor, different antenna).
* I think these tags are better as being part of two-factor auth, re: used in addition to a pin code or other key. For my uses, I will not be using them in a two-factor auth setup, but I see there being a valid use there.
* If I were to implement these in a two-factor auth setup, I would probably use the Tag ID + random seed code written into the data area that changes every 'x' number of access or time of access to the resource. Of course the problem with this is that they've only got so many write cycles (and limited memory, mine has about 888 bytes), so striking that balance is a thing.
That's just a few notes on them - I guess the only other thing I would say is any implementation I do with it will always have a manual backup (physical key) and probably won't be on a super secure set of resources (or at least not without an extra security measure or two in place).
I really have a lot to say about these things and their potential use in security, but I'll keep my comments fairly short:
* The range on them is very, very poor (which isn't a bad thing) and if the device doing the reading doesn't have the right antenna, it can be awkward to use. Our cellphones, for example, are horrible at reading these cylindrical tags, making unlocking my phone somewhat awkward at times (I had a dream where just picking up my phone would unlock it... not quite there). Door locks on the other hand do a much better job (different form factor, different antenna).
* I think these tags are better as being part of two-factor auth, re: used in addition to a pin code or other key. For my uses, I will not be using them in a two-factor auth setup, but I see there being a valid use there.
* If I were to implement these in a two-factor auth setup, I would probably use the Tag ID + random seed code written into the data area that changes every 'x' number of access or time of access to the resource. Of course the problem with this is that they've only got so many write cycles (and limited memory, mine has about 888 bytes), so striking that balance is a thing.
That's just a few notes on them - I guess the only other thing I would say is any implementation I do with it will always have a manual backup (physical key) and probably won't be on a super secure set of resources (or at least not without an extra security measure or two in place).
