Post : QR code opens doors to you
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/09/17/qr-code-opens-doors-to-you/
Posted : September 17, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Author : Mike Szczys
Tags : beaglebone, door lock, jeremy blum, linux, qr code, webcam
Categories : security hacks

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/qr-code-opens-door-to-you.jpg

[Jeremy Blum] wrote in to share his LibeTech QR Code Door Lock project (http://www.jeremyblum.com/portfolio/libetech/) . He developed it during his Senior year at Cornell University along with three of his classmates. It seeks to move away from magnetic card locks in favor of optical locks that authenticate based on a QR code.

The hardware he's using here is definitely cost prohibitive, but we're sure the concept could be greatly simplified. In this case a BeagleBone running embedded Linux monitors a feed from a webcam. When it detects a QR code it compares it with a database of approved keys and will unlock the door for you.

There are problems with this technique, one being that an attacker might be able to get a usable photograph of your key without you knowing. But the majority of hotel locks in use right now are even less secure than that (http://hackaday.com/2012/07/25/arduino-resistor-and-barrel-plug-lay-waste-to-millions-of-hotel-locks/) . On the upside, the key to your room can be emailed to you for use on just about any device with a screen, or printed out on a piece of paper.

You can find [Jeremy's] presentation video embedded after the break.

Read more of this post (http://hackaday.com/2012/09/17/qr-code-opens-doors-to-you/#more-85456)

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