A reader (who I'll identify if he or she asks me to)
wrote in with this little gem of wasted time and money:
The five star Steigenberger Kurhaus hotel in Den Haag, the Netherlands.
With the increased need for security, more and more hotels add access
control to their elevators.
This is how it works (supposedly):
Instead of a button for a floor, there is a slot for your room key card.
Insert it and off you go.
This is what really happens:
Step 1 - find out that the room key can be inserted in any orientation.
This would mean four mag stripe readers in every slot.
Step 2 - Try a slot which is for a floor that is not yours. Works like a
charm!
Step 3 - Will a different card, such as a credit card work? Yep.
Step 4 - What about just a plastic card, no mag stripe? No problem!
Step 5 - Let's try something stupid, like a business card. Bingo!
They just replaced the elevator buttons by simple contact switches
hidden behind slots.
Added security: None, if the attacker carries a business card.
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