Weak Security is NO security!

I am working with a company of late that few months and I must say their security is weak to say the least. They use Barcodes to establish who they are and what jobs they are doing.   It seems kinda simplistic to some but to me they are just asking for problems.   Now a days, 90% of people who work have access to some kind of smart phone, whether it be Android or IOS each one has their unique problems but I am not here to talk about their problems but to point out that each one can literally scan a barcode and decode it in a matter of minutes!

How to decode a Barcode!

If your looking to decode a barcode for Android, I can help.  Here are a few that I’ve found to work really well with any and all barcodes you might have a need for!

• Google Goggles — This app for the Android is so interesting, I have installed on my phone just to see what would the world be like if we had those on Google Glasses which I suspect is coming soon!
• Barcode Scanner  by ZXing Team — This is a good little app for those of you who just want to see what the code is and so forth.   It can does 1d, 2d, and QR Codes.   This is also a really useful app for those of you who want to see what the barcode at work really says about you!
• Barcode Scanner by TACOTY CN — Another one that does basically what others do and it can decode any barcode that you might have to see what it really says about you.   
• Scan by Scan, Inc — Here is a good tool for reading barcodes.   I really can’t say much more than this because they are do basically the same thing 1d, 2d, and QR Codes.   Works really well though!
• ClearImage Free Online Barcode Reader / Decoder — Although this isn’t a app for Android it can be very useful for anyone who has a camera and would like to decode a barcode this way.   No need for a smart phone, just a camera will do that can take digital pictures.

The Problem!

The company I am contracted with thinks this is convenient and probably even thinks no one will abuse this.   I hate to think of who might use this to gain personal information about another worker or even get them fired.   It isn’t hard to imagine that someone may go so far as use someone else’s barcode just to get them in trouble.   So why use barcodes in business?  This is a constant problem that needs to be fixed ASAP for any business that does this might want to consider changing over to something a little more secure.   In the coming weeks, I’ll probably talk about this in more detail but until I fix the problems with this company I can’t go into much more detail.   

Paul Sylvester