Bradley officials alerted campus that it began updating the Blackboard system yesterday morning in order to eliminate the use of the magnetic stripe on ID cards in an email sent Wednesday.
The update means students need to tap instead of swipe their ID cards for access to residence halls, dining facilities and St. James Apartment Complex.
“This change is being made as a safety precaution,” the statement said. “There have been no reports of fraudulent BU ID QuickCard activity.”
Magnetic stripe readers will be used throughout the rest of campus for now, but Bradley will update other access points throughout the summer.
“Bradley was already planning a summer upgrade for these access systems but has decided to move ahead immediately,” the statement said.
The Scout outlined this ID vulnerability in an article titled “Bradley ID cards: At risk of security issues?” in last week’s April 21 edition after being approached by a concerned undergraduate student.
The student recently discovered and described to The Scout, on the condition of anonymity, a way to access the information on Bradley QuickCards without ever touching the IDs but by using student ID numbers.
Using only chip technology instead of magnetic stripes significantly lowers the risk of ID fraud.
“[The FeliCa chip] is going to be substantially more difficult to copy,” Chief of Bradley University Police Department Brien Joschko said in the April 21 article. “We will deactivate the mag stripes once our readers are replaced.”
If the tap function is not working on a student’s ID card and they live in a residence hall or St. James, they can visit the Controller’s Office in Swords Hall between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. There is a $20 replacement fee, which will be waived through May 3.
