Security Sales & Integration April 2021 - 37

crypted communications and updated messages for handling smartcard applications
within the protocol.
OSDP importantly offers the option of secured, encrypted communications between
reader and controller. This is independent of
the encryption between credential and reader.
Remember, a basic definition of encryption
is the conversion of information and data into
a secret code. This is sometimes called a cipher.
For example, let's say your access card is programmed with the number 101. You present
your card to a reader and the controller also sees
ID 101 but, in between the reader and the controller, the data sent looks nothing like ID 101.
The card data sent in between the reader and
the controller is encrypted into a secret code.
Also, significant to highlight, OSDP is a
real SIA-approved industry standard. It is not
a piece of technology owned by any company
and, thus, not proprietary. Today, it is an open
standard that is global in scope and available for
use by any manufacturer.
Continue on to get the basics down and better understand how OSDP solidifies integration
project integrity and opportunities. Also, a sidebar shows how a technique known as webhooks
enables customized access control solutions.

Nuts & Bolts of OSDP
OSDP is built on the RS-485 serial transmission standard. RS-485 is the physical layer,
laying out the actual electrical characteristics
of the signal generator and receiver. Think of
OSDP as communications riding on this RS485 physical layer.
Key advantages include that RS-485 requires
just four conductors, two for power and two
for data. A cable example might be the popular Belden 8723. Intended for control and instrument installations, it's a 22 AWG stranded
cable with four conductors, each making use
of color-coded polypropylene insulation, then
twisted into pairs. One pair is red and black
while the other pair is green and white. Next,
each pair is individually foil shielded and then
wrapped together with a stranded drain wire
and covered, finally, by a PVC jacket.
RS-485 also provides for longer cable runs
between devices, often up to 4,000 feet. Also,
when compared to Wiegand, which offers
simple point-to-point topologies, OSDP offers point-to-point and multidrop. Of course,
multidrop also means individually naming, or
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Many manufacturers have
already implemented OSDP
and there are many other
companies with OSDP devices
in development. To encourage
this, SIA has released tools
that will ensure that these
numbers continue to grow.

addressing, the readers in the system.
Encrypted communications between a reader and controller offer a number of real-world
benefits. One is that encrypted OSDP communications can be used to prevent man-inthe-middle hacks on data lines. In this type of
breach, a hacker intercepts data, then secretly
relays and possibly alters the communications
between a reader and door controller.
Another benefit of encryption is data integrity, a concept often overlooked. Specifically, by
implementing encryption, one can trust that the
data being communicated is authentic and unaltered from what was originally communicated.
This is a good segue over to the subject of IT.
In our IT-centric world, the concept of IT
compliance, the process of meeting a specific
set of requirements for digital/cyber security, is
an emerging need. For example, these requirements might be generated internally by corporate IT or they may originate from outside the
customer's organization.
Think of an insurance company or government entity. Perhaps, your company agrees to
a standard operating procedure (SOP) of only
supplying solutions as standard when encrypted. When applied, OSDP can assist in meeting
this SOP.

Moving Beyond Wiegand
For years, Wiegand has been the industry standard but it is no longer inherently secure due
simply to its original obscure and nonstandard
nature. Plus, the multiple definitions associated
with the Wiegand name have created confusion
over the years.
OSDP, focused as a standardized protocol
between readers and controllers, moves us forward. SIA OSDP allows devices, such as card
readers, control panels or other security management systems to work together, providing
the security industry with a solution that moves
far beyond the widely-used Wiegand standard

OSDP is
recommended for
access control
installations
that require
advanced security
or will be used
in government
and other highersecurity settings.

APRIL 2021 Security Sales & Integration

3/22/21 10:29 AM

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Security Sales & Integration April 2021

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