Bluetooth Smart and NFC are contributing to a new generation of access control systems, says Spencer Marshall, pictured, Regional Sales Manager Northern Europe, at the identity security product company HID Global.
Access control systems have come a long way over the years and the latest generation can offer more secure and sophisticated credentials, and new credential form factors including mobile devices that offer a more secure and convenient way to open doors and parking gates. A simple and user-friendly secure identity management process can be achieved with mobile access control, and it also offers a platform for integrated, multi-layered physical access control (PACS) and IT security solutions.
To focus on one of the main opportunities for access control solutions on mobile devices, Bluetooth Smart short-range connectivity is contributing to an exciting development in access control. Bluetooth combined with gesture technology is offering an additional benefit for access control as users are being given the ability to open doors from a distance by rotating their smartphone as they approach a mobile-enabled reader. This illustrates how new gesture-based technology capability is offering a new user experience, by creating innovative ways to open doors and gates, and also enabling many additional future applications.
NFC and Bluetooth Smart
The two choices for short-range communications that enables smart cards and smartphones to ‘present’ credentials to a reader are NFC and Bluetooth Smart. By enabling users to gain access to resources by simply tapping a smart card to a tablet or laptop for authenticating to a network or application, NFC has taken the lead for tap-in strong authentication use cases. This capability, which may also become possible with smartphones is convenient because there is no need to enter a password on touch-screen devices, and there are no additional devices to issue and manage. Users can tap-in to facilities, VPNs, wireless networks, corporate intranets and cloud- and web-based applications, as well as SSO clients.
When it comes to short-range communication, especially supporting physical access applications such as opening doors and parking gates, organisations will need to consider a technology-agnostic approach. The industry is looking to Bluetooth Smart for these applications as it offers broad availability on Apple and Android device platforms. Bluetooth Smart also has the advantage of a longer reach, which enables smartphones to incorporate gesture technology so they can be rotated as the user walks up to a mobile-enabled reader. As well as offering new exciting ways to open doors and parking gates, this new gesture technology capability offers another layer of authentication for added security.
The next step
Mobile access control will be supported by a user-friendly and highly intuitive identity deployment and management experience. A good way to achieve this could be if administrators simply send users invitations via an administrative portal to download an App directly to their phones. After the invitation is accepted and the app is activated, mobile IDs can be immediately issued, provisioned or revoked over the air. An administrative portal that provides numerous convenience features, including the ability to create user profiles on an individual basis or in groups using a batch upload feature can contribute to the ease of this process.
Mobile technologies in the user experience
Many organisations are at the stage where they are seriously beginning to consider incorporating a combination of secure mobile physical and logical access into their facilities and IT access strategies as the benefits become more widely apparent. Soon enough smartphones will be capable of generating one-time passwords for accessing network or cloud- and web-based applications in addition to receiving digital credentials and ‘presenting’ them to readers at doors and parking gates.
To put this in perspective, the same phone used for building access will also be used in conjunction with a personal tablet or laptop to authenticate to a VPN, wireless network, corporate intranet, cloud- and web-based applications, single-sign-on (SSO) clients and other IT resources. Mobile phones will also replace cards in some instances, but in many cases they will supplement cards to deliver a more secure and user-friendly experience. Substituting one credential form factor for another across use cases is not the main objective here. The aim is to leverage mobile platforms and associated technologies to build unified solutions for ensuring secure access to the door, to data and to cloud applications.
In 2015, and for coming years, the potential for accelerated adoption of mobile access solutions is expected to be one of the most interesting and important industry developments to monitor. Evolving mobile technologies such as NFC and Bluetooth will play an important part in this as smartphones become an integral part of the ecosystem for the creation, management and use of secure identities. These mobile technologies will help offer new and more convenient ways to open doors and gates and an all-round improved user experience.
