ACA: Help Yourself Hotels

[Lucky_man]

I've had quite the reverse experience in China. On two occasions I have come to the room when the cleaners have been there and they have asked me for my room card, checked it in the door and put it in the light switch holder and taken their card out.

I have always had to produce a passport for a replacement room card.

 

[samh004]

Following up on this thread, having spent a weekend in Sydney, I needed a keycard to use the lift and after certain hours, a key card to get in the building. Unfortunately, the key card worked one in ten times, so most of the time another guest actually swiped their card so I could get to my floor.

Always worked in my door luckily.

 

[Warks]

Are there any hotels with fingerprint scanning technology? The reason I ask is that I hired a locker at Universal Studios a week ago and it used a fingerprint scanner which I thought was pretty nifty!

 

[Commuter]

Some hotels are v good and the key only works for the floor staying on and public floors which reduces the risk

One hotel in Japan did not have a lift security device that required a key, but each floor was divided into sections and you had to use your room key to open the door to that section. I thought this was pretty good.

 

[samh004]

One hotel in Japan did not have a lift security device that required a key, but each floor was divided into sections and you had to use your room key to open the door to that section. I thought this was pretty good.

How would that work in a fire?

 

[Flashback]

How would that work in a fire?

Normally in emergency situations the locks are turned off.

 

[serfty]

"Do not use lifts in case of fire" ...

Seriously, the Ground Floor or other public areas are generally accessible by lift from any floor without the use of 'keys'.

 

[Mal]

Another possible vulnerability with hotels and the card keys, is that they use mag stripe technology (like bank/credit cards). So you could potentially insert a skimming device into the lock, and then get your target to put in their card (something that people do at least once in a 24 hour period - assuming they aren't staying in their hotel room all day, and return each night). You could also use the same technique to capture a cleaner's card and use that to access multiple rooms.

I don't know if the locks themselves provide any protection against a skimming attack, but if they don't then that is another vulnerability point.

 

[Commuter]

How would that work in a fire?

Sorry, I should have made it clear that you can get out without an assigned key card. You just can't get 'in' without it.