Hotels are replacing plastic hotel key cards with digital key cards, but is it going to stay? Photo / 123rf
Hotels are replacing plastic hotel key cards with digital key cards, but is it going to stay? Photo / 123rf
Would you feel safe unlocking your hotel room with your phone?
In an effort to enhance guest experience and improve security, hotel chains are increasingly replacing traditional plastic room key cards with digital options, such as Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.
This change particularly gained traction during the pandemic, when digital and touchless services were used in favour of more traditional ways.
However, this significant update is also influenced by the rising number of concerns in cybersecurity, especially after researchers found vulnerabilities in plastic hotel key technology.
So which is better, plastic key cards or digital keys?
The “hacker summer camp”, or the back-to-back Black Hat and Defcon hacker conferences in Las Vegas, is one of the most anticipated events for security researchers and enthusiasts, where attendees are invited to experiment with hacking the infrastructure of Vegas.
American-based technology magazine WIRED reports that in 2022 a number of researchers were invited to a private competition to hack a Vegas hotel room as part of the event.
In this competition, a group of people focused on hacking its most secure and sensitive component of technology: the door lock.
Two years later, Ian Carroll, Lennert Wouters and a team of other security researchers are revealing their findings - a hotel keycard hacking technique that can instantly open several locks with just two taps.
Three million doors worldwide are using the Saflok-brand RFID-based keycard locks, made by Swiss lock maker Dormakaba. Surprisingly, Carroll and Wouters’ team unveiled Unsaflok, a hacking technique that attacks several models of this specific lock.
Unsaflok is a hacking technique invented by a group of researchers that can hack almost three million Saflok-brand RFID-based keycard locks. Photo /123rf
Their technique has three steps: getting a keycard at the reception, reading a certain code using a US$300 RFID device, and making two keycards of their own.
Once they have their own copies, any door can be opened in two taps.
Knowing the dangers of this discovery, Carroll and Wouters’ team have shared this discovery with Dormakaba.
The lock company shared with WIRED that they are currently working with their partners to find a long-term solution to the security problem, but Carroll and Wouters’ team are advising the public to take precautions.
Hotels’ solution to the problem
With this threat, many major hotel chains, including Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt, have embraced the shift to digital and contactless check-in processes.
According to CNBC, one of the leading hotels that have implemented this is the 119-room Harpeth Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee - a Hilton property - where guests can now check in digitally and store their room keys in their Google or Apple wallet apps, enabling them to unlock their doors by tapping their phone against a reader.
Hilton’s Honors app has been a leader in this space, allowing users to check in and access their rooms with ease.
The digital check-in benefits guests since their phone serves as their key. No more worrying about losing a keycard or rummaging through your bag to find it since it’s already on your smartphone.
Digital key cards can be convenient, but it is not safer than the plastic key card. Photo / 123rf
Are we going to lose plastic key cards?
No matter how convenient it sounds, the majority of hotels are not rolling out this technology.
Industry experts suggest guests so accustomed to the traditional method that it will be a challenge for hotels to shift to digital key cards.
As stated in a CNBC article on the subject, research conducted by J.D. Power - an American data analytics, software, and consumer intelligence company - reinforces this theory. Their study showed that even when guests downloaded the app on their phones, they still opted to use the plastic key card. Only 14% of total brand guests used the digital key card installed to their phone.
Aside from the lack of use from guests, J.D. Power shared with CNBC that many hotels could not implement digital key cards properly because of the lack of locks that use digital entry.
Though J.D. Power noted that many guests who used the digital key card felt safer than those who used the other, many hotels are still sticking with the traditional key cards.
Speaking about Harpeth Hotel, which is one of the leading hotels using this technology, director of sales Kimberly Elder told CNBC that many guests still prefer the traditional plastic key cards.
Right now, tech experts find that the advancement of digital key cards is focused on convenience rather than added security.
Hotels may implement it for sustainability and cost, but it’s safe to say plastic cards are here to stay - for now.
