The Implementation of Magnetic Access Control Card Security Systems

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1. Introduction
Access control is the restriction of access to a building or area and it can be achieved by different means of physical security. Magnetic access control card system is one of the many ways of restricting access to a building or area. According to Oke et al. (2009), magnetic access control systems are used to control entry to a room or building and were developed to reduce prodigious amount of theft and fraud.

Magnetic access control card security systems use smart cards which are small plastic cards made out of Polyvinyl Chloride incorporating one or more integrated circuits within its thickness to store and transact data (Hendry, 2007). Types of smart cards include Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM) cards, magnetic stripe cards, dual interface cards and many more. Smart card systems were developed in 1973 by a Frenchman called Roland Marino and they were commercialized in 1981 (Hsiao et al., 2011).

Colleges and universities are the leading adopters of smart cards security systems application for security reasons. The University Utara Malaysia (UUM) was the pioneer adopter and implementer of this system among universities in Malaysia (Mohammad, 2011). According to Sivalingam (2009), among the most reputable universities that use smart card security systems in its premises include University of Cambridge and University of Ottawa.

Magnetic access control systems reduce unauthorised access to facilities. The information embedded in the card is reset only by authorities (Kumar et al., 2013). Non repudiation is also ensured since a card is issued to only one user. However, the magnetic access control system is relatively expensive to put into place. The card is subject to bend in unusual ways resulting to a permane...

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...y Management, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp.35 – 58.

MOHAMMAD, L., ROSLI, K. and AHMI, A. (2011) “Awareness and Adoption of University Smart Card: The Case of UUM”, Journal for the Advancement of Science and Arts, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 40 – 50.

OKE, A.O., OLANIYI, O.M., ARULOGUN, O.T. and OLANIYAN, O.M. (2009) “Development of a Microcontroller – Controlled Security Door System”, Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 398 – 403.

SIVALINGAM, M. (2009) “Smart Card Application for Campus E – Services”, Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 2 – 8.

WEICHUN, L. (2013) “Design of Campus Smart Card System”, Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation (ISCCCA-13), Suzhou, China, 22nd – 24th February, pp. 3915 – 3918, www.atlantis press.com/php/download_paper.php=58633, View Date: 20 February 2014.‎

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