Security Sales & Integration May 2021 - 22

SMARTS & PARTS

Tech Talk by Bob Dolph

Quest for EAC
Best Practices

COURTESY CYPRESS INTEGRATION SOLUTIONS

TOOL OF THE MONTH
I have always enjoyed
reviewing products by
Cypress Integration Solutions
(CIS). This month, I have
selected CIS' OSDP-Wiegand
Converter, OSM-1000. It is a
simple solution to upgrading
Wiegand systems to OSDP.
It has two operating modes,
The PD (Peripheral Device)
mode connects a traditional
Wiegand reader to an OSDP
ACU (Access Control Unit).
The ACU mode allows an
OSDP reader to connect to a
traditional Wiegand ACU.

Bob Dolph has served
in various technical
management and advisory
positions in the security
industry for 30+ years. To
share tips and installation
questions, email Bob at
bdolph.ssi@gmail.com. Access
content from his 15+ years as
Tech Talk columnist by going
online at securitysales.com/
author/bdolph.

▶ JUST A REMINDER on the best practices
philosophy. Providing best practices in sales, service and installation means just that. In sales, do
you provide all the options for your prospect or
just the minimal? It is your obligation as a security professional to provide both average and high
security options. We know that the majority of
crimes are not very sophisticated. Let the customer decide and you can document accordingly.
In service, give the customer options such as
annual maintenance. In installations, make sure
that your techs have the skills and knowledge to
do the job professionally. Provide training, and
again, document accordingly.
Electronic access control (EAC) vulnerability is
always a hot topic and knowledge of such can set
you apart from all the amateurs. Have you heard
of Gecko? If you're an avid reader of Tech Talk
you might remember back in March 2008 that
I mentioned this little electronic creature. It was
a very small device that could be easily put inline
with a Wiegand EAC reader. It was undetectable
and came with an RFID command card set, putting the person in control anytime of that reader.
Moving forward, now Gecko has some similar dangerous modern tech cousins. The first is
BLEKey, which is a sniffer key that can again read
Wiegand data and playback for unauthorized access. Another is ESP RFID Tool, a sniffer that can
be installed and working in less than five minutes.
Wiegand EAC reader communications have
been around for a long time and have always had
its security vulnerabilities. Some manufacturers
have come up with encryption routines but the
majority have not.
One possible EAC communications security
option might be the use of a technology called
Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP), a
Security Industry Association (SIA)-approved
standard. Recently a small poll of 60 EAC professionals revealed that only 10% were using OSDP
technology. Up until recently, this technology
was not as economical as Wiegand but that is
changing.
So what is this OSDP they speak of? First, you

Security Sales & Integration MAY 2021

SS2105 pp22 Tech Talk.indd 22

bdolph.ssi@gmail.com

might want to check out my August 2002 Tech
Talk article, " RS-485: Old Soldiers Never Die. "
OSDP basically is encrypted EAC communication
using the popular RS-485 footprint. In comparison, OSDP provides reader-to-controller encryption and two-way communications while Wiegand
has no encryption or two-way communications.
OSDP has multidrop wiring topology and
up to a 4,000-foot distance while Wiegand has
point-to-point and a maximum of 500 feet.
OSDP cabling has four conductors and a variable data rate while Wiegand has five or more
conductors and a fixed data rate. OSDP is obviously the winner for today's secure EAC communications. Look for OSDP V2.2, the latest
version from the SIA OSDP Working Group.
Planning an EAC system does not need to be
complicated. Besides making sure you have all
the prospective stakeholders and lead tech people
involved, make sure to have door hardware experts since this is a physical specialty that many
electronic systems techs may lack. I have seen
many of dollars lost by overlooking this element.
One needs to ask a few basic questions when
planning an EAC system:
WHO are the people, or groups of people, you
want to provide electronic access to?
WHAT are the assigned levels of access? This is
important to clearly define early on.
WHERE can the people go? Define the areas
that the personnel can access.
WHEN are they allowed to access this area?
This is defined per system schedules.
WHY should they have access to this area? Further operational clarification and explanation
helps and confirms previous security decisions.
HOW do they have access to certain areas?
This can be certain technologies that match
customers' security level needs. Different levels of security may require certain combined
technology such as a card swipe, PIN, mantrap
and/or biometrics.
As you can see there are many variables in
planning an EAC system. Many EAC equipment
manufacturers can supply worksheets to make
these tasks easier and less error prone. Take advantage of this free offering.
Lately, companies like Innovatrics are producing what is referred to as " seamless EAC. " The
company's facial recognition is said to work even
with facemasks. Just walk up and their EAC system will recognize you. Pretty cool.
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Security Sales & Integration May 2021

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