What is Anti-passback?

In an access control system, the anti-passback feature plays the role of that invisible watch guard who stops anyone who tries to obstruct a specific access sequence. The terms anti-piggybacking, anti-tailgating, anti-buddy-punching, and anti-passback demonstrate the same concepts. In this system, a distinctive pattern (in-out-in-out-in-out) applies to both the entry and exit readers that must be followed by an individual user to gain unhindered entry and exit.

If by any chance this sequence is disturbed/ misused (in-in-out), the system initiates an automatic response mechanism as per the Anti-passback rule configuration.

Let’s have a look at the different types of anti-passback rules for various response mechanisms:

Let us understand these rules in brief-

1. Real Anti-passback

Real Anti-passback can be differentiated into two parts, as described below:

a. Hard Anti-passback

Entry and exit readers are set in a way to deter any user from gaining access if the specified pattern is disturbed. For example, if a user bypasses an entry/ exit reader without punching in his/her credential(buddy punching-in) and tries to access the subsequent reader, the rule activates; as a result of which, an event alert is sent to the ACS, and the reader denies the user access. Therefore, the system denies all subsequent accesses to a user who enters a facility tailgating another user.

b. Soft Anti-passback

In this type, a user gains access after punching-in his/her credentials even when it is against the set sequence. However, the system logs the event as an alarm for further scrutiny. Though it simplifies user access, it reduces system security.

2. Timed Anti-passback

When this rule gets applied, a cardholder can re-use his/her access credential only after a specified time on the last accessed reader. Timed Anti-passback is generally used in organizations where there is no provision for exit readers on turnstiles/flap-barriers, and the security admin wants to stop the use of an Access-card by multiple users.

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