[ISN] After Security Breach, Harvard Unveils New IDs

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:48:13 -0500 (CDT)
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523934

By ABBY D. PHILLIP
Crimson Staff Writer 
July 17, 2008

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) announced last week that 
students, faculty, and staff will receive new identification cards that 
use contactless Smartcard technology when they return to campus this 
fall.

The upgrade comes less than a year after Theodore R. Pak '09 was caught 
creating duplicates of the Harvard University ID (HUID) cards belonging 
to University President Drew G. Faust, Assistant Dean of the College 
Paul J. McLoughlin II, and Dunster House Superintendent H. Joseph 
O'Connor.

Pak's hack revealed a significant security flaw in the more than 
15-year-old swipe card system, as he was able to gain access to 
buildings and gates across campus with only knowledge of HUID numbers 
and a $200 card reader bought from eBay.

Assistant Dean for Physical Resources Michael L. Lichten said that the 
Pak incident "was a motivator for us to move more quickly in putting the 
new system in place."

[...]


_______________________________________________      
Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, 
the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts.
Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings 
presentations with lots of new content and new tools.
Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations.  
Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in 
a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.com
Received on Fri Jul 18 2008 - 00:48:13 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Fri Jul 18 2008 - 01:10:17 PDT