Posts made by Jeff

Huh?

We're doing a SSSS to overcome the security team's concerns. Have you been briefed from last Friday's conference call with the team?

Are you with MS?

Hey, I've put this aside a bit - thinking of perhaps having a coffee/lunch with Maz when in town.

I have been talking with folks at MS and fido - one idea that I'd like to kick around. I guess microsoft's Windows Unlock via their Companion IoT Devices is rolling out soon(ish). It is only for Windows 10; however, it seems to offer a better mechanism for dialing in convenience/security - and is baked right into the OS.

I've been meaning to post this:

https://channel9.msdn.com/events/build/2016/p491
and...
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/security/companion-device-unlock

Just thinking outloud.

Service providers?

Are you asking for a company to install a NFC lock? Or the lock itself?

The lock - the Samsung models seem to have a solid mix of features and price.

As for a company/person to install - that's a bit more tricky.

Nonetheless, I will say that installing one of these is non-trival. So plan for a bit of time, and no drinking of beer during the process - only after it is working and done.

@javed-Rehman You said a soft reset worked. I've been seeing the need for a power cycle ever so often myself (Nexus 5x) for the Smart Lock to work correctly (once a week).

Otherwise, it seems like the NFC isn't being seen at all. Perhaps an artifact of system updates and such? I'm getting trained to cycle all my phones in the morning - besides Pavlov being proud - I don't wish this behavior on anyone. I do think the problem rests in the OS.

@Keyboarddave Love to hear more about your experience. I was so frustrated initially, I didn't realize that the reed switch was mandatory - and so I could figure out the reasons for failure. It also didn't help that the batteries that came from mine were dead/dying.

Awesome, you are going to love the ring. For me, it was a strong and immediate emotional response.

Everything that you said is spot on correct, and now things to work on/build upon. Firstly, the NFC Ring is just one component of an entire ecosystem.

Some others being: phone that can take full advantage of this emerging technology. Right now, that's going to be (mostly) an Android phone - and not all Android phones are the same (UX-wise). Some have insane NFC hardware (the Blackberry Priv is by far the best I've ever seen; with the Nexus lines - from 2013ish onward also being good/great) - not to say these are the only ones, I only can comment to those I've personally used.

Got the phone now what?

Probably not going to get a NFC door lock. Honestly, it is a lot of work still - and it requires the ability to drill into doors; not everyone is going to want to do this.

What about hacking? This is definitely a good and a couple of general ideas:

1. phone-related, you can setup up Smart Lock but also have the phone do additional work via Tasker/Trigger and scripting.

2. Hardware - if you like arduinos then there is KeyDuino. Though it is over, I'm fairly sure that you can still find these on ebay/forums/etc.

3. Raspberry Pi (or other SBC) connected to a RC522. (Don't forget some female-female jumper wires) and there are a number of ways to use. Either via python or even Node.JS - depending on your goals.

As for someone skimming - I wouldn't worry about this too much. They would need to be right up on you (physically) and it is really then a question of what data you've put on your ring. If you are most concerned with a black hat cloning your ring to unlock your Android phone - solution: only authorize the 'inside' tag. But if you have your biz card on your ring (or Blockchain ID such as onename.com) - let them steal that.

@jasok2 said in What NFC writer do you use?:

What NFC writer do you use?

Cool - this is also Android? Or are there plans for expanding to other platforms?

One idea - with google moving/merging (sort of) Android and Chrome Stores - with the potential to now be able to run Android software on one's chromebox/book - there is the emerging possibility of setting up a terminal of sorts.

That probably only helps a few people though :-/

Hey there, thought to create a space to start the discussion back up around Project: Sesame.

Just for those coming in: (draft) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mclear/526261309?token=201aa2e8

Briefly: The goal is to make a Windows only open source NFC login / App that just works.

I hope to better understand community needs. Been talking with folks involved with this project, and can't wait to hear from you.

On Android:

1. NFC Ring Control
2. Tagstand Writer

Either one of these should write text to your ring.

As for PC hardware solutions, such as a USB/NFC device, that's more complex. First, are you looking for Mac, Windows, Linux. A lot of the software is payware, and the free stuff is typically beta and/or command line interface (CLI). https://www.nfcideas.com/#products (but is buggy)

Some Include:

https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pcsclite/
https://github.com/nfcpy/nfcpy

A finished app just isn't available at the moment for free. At least one that doesn't crash constantly. Hence why everyone is using their android devices at the moment - the software is ok, free, and seems to work well.