How are copies made?
At Fobcouver, we have custom written programs to copy a key fob within 5 minutes for our customers. Although the copying process is very quick and efficient nowadays, it wasn’t always this way. How we copy a key fob is explained below:
Step 1: Scanning for information
Keys fobs have RFID Tags in them which Wikipedia describes as:
“Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. Passive tags collect energy from a nearby RFID reader’s interrogating radio waves. Active tags have a local power source such as a battery and may operate at hundreds of meters from the RFID reader. Unlike a barcode, the tag need not be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID is one method for Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC).
RFID tags are used in many industries, for example, an RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line; RFID-tagged pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses; and implanting RFID microchips in livestock and pets allows positive identification of animals.
Since RFID tags can be attached to cash, clothing, and possessions, or implanted in animals and people, the possibility of reading personally-linked information without consent has raised serious privacy concerns. These concerns resulted in standard specifications development addressing privacy and security issues. ISO/IEC 18000 and ISO/IEC 29167 use on-chip cryptography methods for untraceability, tag and reader authentication, and over-the-air privacy. ISO/IEC 20248 specifies a digital signature data structure for RFID and barcodes providing data, source and read method authenticity. This work is done within ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31 Automatic identification and data capture techniques.”
Since tags have information stored in them already, it’s a “simple” matter of getting the information out of them. We have scanners which can power up tags and show us the data on it which looks like:
From this graph we can extrapolate the following information:
Once we get the bit steam, we locate the beginning and ending of the stream which would be
After we have located the beginning and ending of the stream, we start to demodulate the data with known cipher keys. With six years of experience, Fobcouver has the cipher keys for every system in BC. Individual buildings do not have different ciphers; only different systems will have different ciphers. Knowing which cipher to use will only tell us what system you are using not what building it’s from. Our program will run your key through every known cipher with a 98.74% success rate.
Step 2: Placing Information to New Tag
Finally when we have the key Information and the cipher used. We will place the data onto a donor fob and test it four times to ensure that the key will work before you pay us!
Donor fobs look like this:
With our programs we can create a copy faster than you read this page!
Feel free to contact us for more details!
For key fob copying in Toronto:
For services in Sydney: