The Security Breach Affecting Millions of Hotel Rooms Finally
Addressed Thanks to the Power of Smartphones
Hoteliers now have an alternative cure to the threats while also significantly upgrading the security
and capabilities of their electronic guestroom locks. This alternative security patch developed by
OpenWays (an independent company) was successfully audited by independent security experts.
A freeware license is made available to all hotels affected worldwide.
 Chicago —
October 2nd, 2012 — Late July, at the Black Hat security
conference in Las Vegas, a major security breach affecting more than 4
million
electronic locks installed in hotels around the world was revealed.
Forbes.com
was first to publish the revelation (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/07/23/hacker-will-expose-potential-security-flaw-in-more-than-four-million-hotel-room-keycard-locks/2/).
The hacker (Cody Brocious)
presented the results of his examination and work, together with all
the
necessary technical information and code on his web site (http://daeken.com/), and demonstrated
the hack in
operation. Since then, other hackers have been able to replicate and
even
improve the device with hardware available readily for less than $50 in
just a
few hours (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYAwEikopzI).
In an attempt to address the issue, the affected lock manufacturer announced some fixes on August 13th. The hacker published follow-up comments on his blog expressing serious concerns about the possible lack of security with the proposed fixes. Forbes.com commented further in its subsequent article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/17/hotel-lock-firms-fix-for-security-flaw-requires-hardware-changes-for-millions-of-locks/). Equally important, the hacker underlines that the affected manufacturer’s proposals and systems were not submitted for a thorough security audit to an independent, reputable security audit expert. This
revelation has energized the global hacking community further
stimulating
copycats: (http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/28/videos-show-hackers-reproducing-and-refining-hotel-lock-trick-that-opens-millions-of-rooms/).
Relief is provided by OpenWays, the world leader in mobile based access management solutions. OpenWays’ team has a collective 100+ year’s expertise in electronic locking and security systems for hotels and other facilities. It offers innovative and state of the art mobile-device based access management solutions allowing guests to bypass the front desk, proceed directly to their room and securely open their lock with their cell phone. OpenWays already offers upgrade kits compatible with the major electronic lock brands including the locks in question. Pascal Metivier, founder and CEO of OpenWays, states: “After reviewing both the public statements on the security breach and the proposed fixes, we feel much better can be done for the affected hotels and the industry." Working with the hotel industry for more than 20 years, the OpenWays team felt an obligation to search for a better solution. Metivier continued: “Leveraging our Mobile Key platform, we were able to adapt it fast to address the risks related to the incriminated lock communication port breach. We are highly confident our solutions not only properly address the published security breaches but also significantly upgrade the locks both in terms of security and functionality. It also has the advantage of being simpler to deploy and can be made available globally to all hotels impacted effective immediately. “In a breach situation such as this, for credibility and reassurance purposes it is essential that fixes are audited by an independent and reputable security audit firm," he said. "That is what we have done with ours. The results are outstanding and confirm the effectiveness of our solution to cure the issue and more. “To make it easy for hotels to adapt, we have made the decision to provide the software license that addresses the published security issue available in a freeware mode (free of any license fees)," Metivier added. "We bring alternatives and choices to the affected hotels that can now, with our LOCKFIX and Mobile Key solutions, kill two birds with one stone.” To learn how an affected hotel can benefit from the enhanced fixes and to learn more about Mobile Key, please fully complete the online form adding “LOCKFIX” in the text section at: http://openways.com/pages/contacto.html. About OpenWays  OpenWays is a global solutions provider of
mobile-based access-management and security solutions. With offices in
Chicago,
Las Vegas, Seoul and in Europe, OpenWays provides technology solutions
allowing
for the secure issuance and delivery of access rights and keys
processed via
any cell phone operating on any network. The OpenWays solution is truly
unique
as it is built on the concept of credential dematerialization. The
OpenWays
mobile room key solution works on ALL the 6.5 billion cell
phones in service in
the world today. For more information, please contact Andrew Sanders at
+1 732
707-1869 or email asanders@openways.com.
More
information can be found by visiting www.OpenWays.com.
OpenWays has developed its cure for the impacted locks independently and no endorsement of the affected lock manufacturer is intended or implied. |