Introduction

Ryan from Pacific Business Services in Dumaguete City asked Project NightOwl, a technology incubator and hacker space at Foundation University, Dumaguete, to develop an RFID-based authentication and authorization system to secure access to their office space. Since NightOwl had already started working on this for their own lab, extending it to a BPO where the internet infrastructure is already provisioned by Foundation University, is feasible. This is an ideal project for NightOwl to take on as it involves Research & Development as well as prototyping based on knowledge and experience present within the team. It also provides the students of Foundation University with an ideal opportunity to get working experience in a product development project for a real client, including the whole project management, quality control and documentation process. Lastly, the client is very interested in the concept of the NightOwl incubator/hackerspace and is extending support by providing additional budget that can be used to buy tools/materials for the NightOwl space.

Since this project will be used as part of a commercial operation the quality standards are set much higher than for any prototyping done for internal use. Details are important and bugs are to be solved promptly. Code quality and security are important aspects.

Project requirements:

Use only Open Source Software (OSS/FOSS)

Any software created as part of the project is to be released publicly under an OSS license

To ensure that the system can easily be extended at the university the same RFID cards are to be used

Project Scope and Requirements

The overall goal is to provide a secure, easy to use and extensible integrated system of hardware and software for a locking mechanism, RFID based authentication, database driven authorization and a web-based management application of these components, including an audit log. The system should be built securely to prevent unauthorized access and tampering, and be modular so additions to the software and hardware may be made at a later point.

Software

Make use of existing open source software (do not reinvent the wheel)

Devise a plan for security updates of the used software

A secure and simple web-application is needed that provides:

Authentication management (register and remove ID's)

Authorization management (record which users are allowed to do authenticate at specific door locks)

Audit log (show who accessed which resources at what time)

Employ rigid testing and CI practices to ensure code quality

Ensure user's privacy by not providing any information about cards and users to unauthorized users

Backup & Restore functionality

Hardware

A secure lock that is tamper proof from the outside and inside

An RFID scanner that has the same frequency as the FU cards (13.56Mhz)

A network connected controller that is capable of handling authentication, authorization and serving the web application

Possible future additions

Authentication and authorization from other sources (LDAP/AD, centralized databases, etc)

Centralized authentication and authorization database in case of multiple readers

Touch screen interface to the authentication/authorization/audit-log management application

Materials and Budget

Below are the actually required materials for the client. In agreement with Ryan we will later on add extra materials or some equipment to add to our own supply.

Item	Links	Comments	Price (USD)	Quantity	Total
Raspberry Pi 3 or alternative controller	http://ph.rs-online.com/web/p/processor-microcontroller-development-kits/8968660/	40.95	2	81.90
Role of 3D printing filament	https://www.olx.ph/item/3d-printer-filaments-3-0mm-ID6NmZy.html?p=7&h=866709ada5#866709ada5	25.87	1	25.87
5.1V, 1 Output, Micro USB Plug In Power Supply, 2.5A, 13W Official Raspberry Pi Power Supply	http://ph.rs-online.com/web/p/plug-in-power-supply/9098135/	9.63	2	19.26
RFID Reader	https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10126	13.56-MHz	29.95	2	59.90
Servo	https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9347	Use the same or stronger as we have at the lab	13.95	2	27.90
Lock	Dumaguete City,Citi Hardware Store	Lock for a good quality lock, not tampering from the outside, no key outside, possible to interface with servo	31.08	1	31.08
IFixit Pro Tech Toolkit	https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Parts/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307-1	110	1	110
Total USD	356
Total PHP	17166

Milestones

Milestone	Title	Comments	Due date
1.	Draft proposal	discuss and get ok from client. Include budget and planning.
2.	Final proposal
3.	Security and privacy evaluation	All physical and electronic vulnerabilities identified and addressed
4.	RFID reader and controller design
5.	Management application design
6.	Testing plan	Requirements for testing the system and judge it successful
7.	First prototype	Both hardware and software developed and installed
8.	First prototype tested and design adjusted	After proper testing, adjust design according to test results
9.	Final prototype	Final prototype developed and installed
10.	Test period for final prototype completed and evaluated	After a trial period for the customer, evaluate the prototype and adjust design
11.	Final version developed and installed

Work breakdown

Milestone 1

Research existing (open source) tools and software for reading RFID tags

Roughly research different protocols, standards and tools for RFID communication and authentication, resulting in a list with short description of the tools

Research rough list of required tools and materials

Finalize our list of requirements

Make a material list and budget

Make a project planning (dates on the milestones)

Finalize this project proposal

Discuss proposal with client

Discuss client requirements

Milestone 2

Adjust proposal

Discuss proposal with client and get final OK

Milestone 3

Evaluate potential physical attack vectors (tampering with the hardware)

Evaluate potential local software attack vectors

Evaluate potential remote software attack vectors

Evaluate potential privacy flaws

Make software security management plan (signaling and updating security updates)

Milestone 4

Study different standards and protocols regarding RFID/NFC authentication

Research the possibilities for the connection of the controller to the door lock

Research different libraries for RFID-reader/controller communication

Research different hardware components, their functioning and available libraries and tools

Create a technical design for the RFID reader, it's controller and the lock

Milestone 5

Research different open-source authentication and authorization packages supporting RFID

Make a technical design of the management software

Rest:

Get a final OK for the the designs

Order parts

Start writing software

Make a software and hardware testing plan

Install first prototype

Train the client on use of the prototype

Test first prototype

Adjust design, hardware and software according to test results

Install final prototype

Let user evaluate the system for a while

Evaluate the system with the user in a feedback session

Create the final version based on the client's feedback

Install and test the final version

Design

RFID reader

Controller

Authentication and Authorization protocols and software (See also the article on Privacy Preserving Authorized RFID Authentication Protocols)

Management web application

Security and privacy

Progress

We made a 3D design for the connection between the servo and the lock, and a design for the mounting of the servo to the door. The files can be found on https://github.com/Waterspace/servo-lock-mount. If you click on the stl files, github shows you an interactive 3D view of the model.

The model has been printed, and after some tweaking, a heat gun and superglue we got it to fit! So now we need to create a casing for the electronics and hook everything up!

The code for the current arduino version can be found on github.

Interesting links

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Universal-RFID-Key/

http://www.instructables.com/id/RFID-Emulator-How-to-Clone-RFID-Card-Tag-/

http://www.secureidnews.com/news-item/understanding-rfid-part-9-rfid-privacy-and-security/

http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/project-planning-templates/project-management-plan.html#axzz4HZDJlNV0

http://www.openbeacon.org/

http://www.openpcd.org/

http://llrp.org/

http://transcends.co/open-source-rifidi-products/