this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2024
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Hardware Hacking

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My apartment complex used to be a hotel and still has the doors. Can I hack the key cards unlock? (imgur.com)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Basically the title. I confirmed with management that the system for these hotel style door locks are no longer in use and they likely even moved doors from their original location in the process of remodeling the building into apartments. I'm just trying to prevent myself from getting locked out and avoid using my regular key if I can. I've tried reading it with an NFC reader and it didn't work so I imagine it was to be RFID?

Any tips on where to start? I am an experienced software engineer, but I haven't done any hacking before. I can buy tools to do the job if necessary

Edit: Added pictures for the cynics. It is my apartment

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Hotel locks are usually battery powered. Some have a power cable but that is rare. The first step would be restoring power to the lock. Without power, an electronic lock's backup cylinder is basically just a normal lock.

For all you cynics, the battery compartments are on the secure sides of the door, so making their own hotel keys won't help OP break into their neighbors'.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Get a model number, find specs on what tech it uses, find manuals on it…. If the guides don’t exist yet to hack it, it’ll probably take quite a bit of work. You’ll have to reverse engineer its pairing/config protocol… or something like that.

But yeah, step 1 is information gathering. I mean, you’re a software engineer right? Engineer a solution.