Replace Metal Keys with Electronic Keycards

Context

A hotel that currently uses traditional metal keys plans to migrate to electronic keycards across guest rooms and staff-accessible areas.

Tasks

1. Explain the strategic and customer-driven reasons for replacing metal keys with keycards. Address benefits for:
   • Guests
   • Hotel staff (front desk, housekeeping, maintenance)
   • The business (operations, risk, revenue)
2. Define the must-have features of the end-to-end solution, including (but not limited to):
   • Check-in/check-out experience (front desk, kiosk, mobile)
   • Lost-card flow and revocation
   • Access controls and roles (guest, staff, shared facilities)
   • Auditing and reporting
   • Integrations (PMS, loyalty, mobile app)
3. Describe a high-level system architecture connecting keycards, door locks, on-premise or cloud services, and hotel management software. Include how the card and lock validate each other.
4. Propose security measures to mitigate physical and network-based attacks (e.g., brute-force entry, card cloning, packet interception).

Hints

• Consider operational efficiency: self-service kiosks, faster room turnover, automated role-based access.
• Consider cryptographic approaches: public/private keys, diversified symmetric keys, rolling codes, time-bound credentials.
• Address failure modes: power outage, server downtime, battery depletion, or a card being swiped multiple times.