Imagine: a huge facility housing highly secured computers that hold world-changing data. Before you can access the computers, you must pass through several locked doors. Once you are in front of the computer’s main server, it is only accessible by authorized users. Imagine a blank, white card the size of a credit card hanging from one of the authorized user’s neck. This seemingly ordinary, blank card opens all those closed doors, and can even unlock the main server.
You may be wondering what this blank card is, and how on earth can a blank card opens so many locked doors with just a swipe? This “blank card” is called an HID card. An HID card (HID stands for Human Interaction Device) is a small card, usually the size of a credit card or an ID card, that ise embedded by information that is used later in order to access a secured system.
HID cards are preferred over the ordinary ID cards that employees carry around all the time. Although some ID cards have barcodes for purposes such as attendance and facility usage, the information sent is not secure. An ordinary card can be easily copied, reused and abused. HID cards, on the other hand, are usually blank, so it is much difficult to copy these by ordinary means.
HID cards are not created by using normal ID card printers. Ordinary ID card printers can only print graphics and characters (also barcodes) using ink. HID cards, on the other hand, are embedded with cryptic (and invisible) information upon “printing”. This information can be modified using a system, so that names, for example, can be matched with the holder of the card. They can only be printed by specialized ID card printers.
So how does an HID card work? When the card comes into proximity with an electronic device called the “reader”, embedded information is then transferred from the card to a computer or system that controls the door, for example. The computer or system compares the data from the card from a tightly controlled database. Once the system finds the match, it would grant access (or no access) to the owner of the HID card.
Since the information embedded in the card is electronic and can be modified using a program, an HID card can be “recycled”. When a user decides to resign from the company, for example, he can surrender his HID card. Then the company would then modify the access to the new user of the card by using a system. They do not need to be reprinted or make a new card for a new user.
New types of HID cards enable companies to print (in ink) other data onto the card. This way, the company can add their logo and their contact details in case of emergencies or a lost card.
As our technology advances, exploration on new ways to access stored and secured data (or a door) are also done. HID cards have proven to be an effective way for better security and controlled access.