IRL, I'm an IT guy. I don't deal with this type of stuff on a daily basis, but "cyber security" has crept into most IT jobs on a daily basis these days, so reading up about hacks, vulnerabilities, etc., is just part of my regular routine these days. I know many do not worry about physical security at WDW resort rooms, and I'm one of them. We will leave various "items of value" laying around in our room that should likely be locked up (any cash/gift cards/etc., do typically get locked up in the in-room safe). From now on, I may insist that those things get locked up. I ran across this article recently:
https://thehackernews.com/2018/04/hacking-hotel-master-key.html
This can be done with magstripe keys and with RFID keys. EDIT: This also presumes Disney uses the key system mentioned in the article. If not, then simply skip to the 'Bottom line', and have a nice day.
I know many will dismiss this as "It'll never happen at WDW", but read it and think about the potential. Is Security regularly walking around the resort buildings? If they aren't, it wouldn't take a ton of time for someone to figure out when and what rooms they could get into if they were able to. Based on what the researchers did to generate this "master key", paying for one night in a WDW room, plus an unpatched room key system, could yield a "motivated individual" a fortune in stolen goods, money, etc. If researchers were able to do it, you know more than one enterprising black-hat is or has done the same thing by now. Hopefully the system has been patched, but based on Disney IT's history, I'm not one to think that they've already implemented the software patch to fix this. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, however, but I like to use to the 'Trust, but verify' approach, it's served me well in the past 8 years.
Bottom line - Lock up your valuables, even in your room at WDW.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this, and read more if anyone has any additional information.
https://thehackernews.com/2018/04/hacking-hotel-master-key.html
This can be done with magstripe keys and with RFID keys. EDIT: This also presumes Disney uses the key system mentioned in the article. If not, then simply skip to the 'Bottom line', and have a nice day.
I know many will dismiss this as "It'll never happen at WDW", but read it and think about the potential. Is Security regularly walking around the resort buildings? If they aren't, it wouldn't take a ton of time for someone to figure out when and what rooms they could get into if they were able to. Based on what the researchers did to generate this "master key", paying for one night in a WDW room, plus an unpatched room key system, could yield a "motivated individual" a fortune in stolen goods, money, etc. If researchers were able to do it, you know more than one enterprising black-hat is or has done the same thing by now. Hopefully the system has been patched, but based on Disney IT's history, I'm not one to think that they've already implemented the software patch to fix this. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, however, but I like to use to the 'Trust, but verify' approach, it's served me well in the past 8 years.
Bottom line - Lock up your valuables, even in your room at WDW.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this, and read more if anyone has any additional information.
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