Enhancing Online Laboratories' Security Through the Use of RFID Technology

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a tech-nology that has been used to identify and track objects or individuals. It is used in inventory management for tracking and monitoring stock levels in real-time, in financial transactions, such as contactless payment systems, and in user authentication, by supporting access control systems to grant or restrict entry to secure areas, such as offices, laboratories, and restricted facilities. Additionally, RFID technology is used in transportation sys-tems for electronic toll collection, in healthcare for patient tracking and equipment monitoring, and also in personal devices for enabling smart home functionalities. Its flexibility, scalability, and reliability make RFID an indispensable tool in modern technological ecosystems. The proposed system addresses challenges faced by educational and research institutions in managing online laboratory resources, ensuring only authorized personnel can remotely access online laboratories, similar to what happens in physical laboratory facilities in which researchers and staff have to use their ID cards to gain access to laboratory facilities. This work uses an Online Laboratory Management System, where the laboratory users are assigned unique RFID tags, which serve as digital identifiers. Upon typing user and password credentials and scanning their RFID tags in a reader attached to their computers, the system will verify both authentication methods in real-time via a centralized database and grant or deny access accordingly. The proof of concept features a web-based interface for users and administrators to manage user roles and monitor access logs, Additionally, it provides access to a particular set of online laboratory stations based on the role validation. By leveraging RFID technology, any system can add an extra layer of security to traditional password-based authentication. With the use of this approach, it is expected to have a more secure system with the support of a flexible and configurable access control mechanism, contributing to the online laboratory user experience.