RFID Locks are way too easy to 'Hack'! Let me show you!

In this video I will try to pick an RFID lock electrically. Will I succeed or fail? We will find out. Along the way we will learn tons about 125kHz RFID locking systems and how "secure" they are. Reading and writing to RFID tags will of course also be a part of that. So let's get started!

Thanks to Morning Brew for sponsoring this video.

0:00 RFID Door Locking System Overview
1:17 Intro
2:12 How I built the Locking System
4:03 RFID Theory
5:54 Amazon RFID Writer/Reader
6:46 Amp Mod (Increase Reading Distance)
8:40 Coil Mod (Increase Reading Distance)
10:41 Verdict

[bigclivedotcom]

When I was building an RFID door lock for my mum when she developed Alzheimer's, the hardest bit was getting a good range. I ended up getting a huge (and resin potted!) reader unit and using it with the long range cards. (The keyfob circuit but with a wider coil in a plastic card.) I got a decent range from it. It also greatly improved the range of the common keyfobs too.

There does seem to be quite a precise science to reading the keyfobs accurately. I did a lot of experimentation with adding wider coils too.

[artyk]

I got one of those readers...got about 45 reads off random people in just one day! In my own building I can now get to 14 additional floors. Honestly, rfid on elevator control might provide some security, but the stairwell doors have no security. This is an important lesson here, security is usually only theatre;a show.

[sleeptyper]

As LPL has proven so many times, that "lock" can be defeated with just a strong magnet - provided that it contains a relay to operate external circuits..

[klassichd]

When my mother started to develop dementia, I added such a key fob to her wrist band, build such a reader using ESP8266 to command the electronic lock "Keymatic" to open the doors. So, she could continue to live in her home instead of a nursing home. That was really very helpful.

[RvNxBound]

Seems like a pretty topic. I’d like to see more „security research“ videos from you!

[GrumpyGeorge]

I love how the Lockpickinglawyer has essentially become a meme on any lock-related video

[CoolerQ]

I feel like the easiest way to "pick" that lock is to just pull the reader off the wall and short the appropriate pins to trigger the latch. That's why these systems usually use a separate controller - so there's nothing you can do to the external components to trigger the latch.

[steven]

You can absolutely grab tags easily with off the shelf long range readers, adding a microcontroller with BT/wifi in line with the reader wiegand or rs485 data lines is also a good way to read/replay a code back to the controller.

[AlyssaNguyen]

I once worked at a place where access to the parking lot was controlled with a large RFID reader. I would stick my arm out the window with my card in hand and slow down to just the right speed for the card to be read and the gate to go up just barely in time. The terrified looks I got from some security guards were priceless. 😂

[bitsofgeek]

Security is more a game of deterrence than anything else, and so you weigh everything from the value to bad actors to the (in)convenience for the valid users and find a solution that is sufficient for the scenario.

I think the biggest takeaway should be “just because it has a computer in it doesn’t mean it’s automatically more secure than other options”, and that is something we would all do well to remember.

[Elberto]

Mount the reader on the inside of the door for more security, the tag can be read through the door if its thin enough and not metal lined. Plus nobody knows it's there 👍🏻

[amaanqureshi]

Never been so early! love your channel!, You have single handedly inspired my love for electronics for the past 4 years!

[fabio-franco]

About 15 years ago, I was the developer of a production tracking system. At one point we started implementing controls of what leaves the production floor to be loaded into trucks. So we added an RFID tracking system. The system began printing RFID labels (yes, just like any other thin sticker) on our Zebra printers.
If you think that product from Amazon is a lot, the reader we had installed on top of the exist door was over 3 meters high and could read the labels of all boxes in a pallet before they gotten directly under it. And they were passive and not active tags, as the cost of those would make the solution unviable. So you have an idea of what's possible.
Now, If you want to maximize the range of your reader, I'd look on content for metal detector designs. Seeing how simplistic you design was if compared to the ones I saw for metal detectors, I know there is a lot of room to increase that range with some freely available designs.
I am working towards building a metal detector and it is way more complicated than I was hoping for when I had this terrible idea. So it's going to take a while 😂.
But I think you'd probably be able to adapt them in no time.

[Roboticlay]

Please continue! The Mythbusters were looking into this years ago and were discouraged from looking further. It would be very interesting to see what you could pull off!

[ShahZahid]

Well GreatScott turned into Kevin Mitnick real quick

[giorgos]

Nice video!
A good idea for future video is to explain how NFC works and differences with RFID. And of course why it is more secure.

[supremaunus]

Good thing you looked over the instryctions

[freshgino]

You can get commercial long distance RFID readers and reverse engineer how they work… they are used in tolling and parking entrances to read rfid tags on cars as they drive in

[ANANTHASANKAR_UA]

Long Range RFID system use UHF 433MHz & 928 MHz Transmitter along with sensitive receivers that can detect a fraction of change in the transmitted wave. If we increase the operating frequency of RFID system then the power required for transmission is decreased and improve the sensitivity also. Another way is modify the 125khz coil circuit with high speed switching transistor and adjust the gain of opamp at detector end with optimal level with pot...I think it works ✌️

[SierraGolfNiner]

Interesting stuff. Always wondered how easy it was to NFC at a distance. Realistically from a home security perspective this is no worse than most door locks. Average door? Easy to pick/rake/bump. A thief will probably just break something (like the window next to the door) instead.