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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: S100 who wrote (2244)	10/5/2000 5:30:32 PM
From: Drew Williams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12242

There are lots of different levels of security from security systems. Most access cards, for instance, use a 10 or 12 digit encoded number. Many cards use the first few numbers as a site code and then the individual's numbers follow. For instance, one of the railroads (one that is being merged out of existence) whose system we took over a year or so ago used an 8 digit number. The first three numbers are the same, so there are only 999 site codes, which means they have to repeat the site codes for different sites. This is better than nothing, but we have seen cards from one installation work on their neighbor's system because their security companies had unknowingly installed systems with the same site code. The current state of the art uses a 12 digit encoded number that is never repeated. Speaking directly to your point, however, all of these systems are sending a number from the reader to the controller, even the biometrics, and if you can capture that number you could theoretically break into the system. (If we are talking about breaking into a building, though, there are easier ways to do it.)