UNC Student Accused Of Cloning Key Fobs For Illegal Access
UNC Student Charged With Two Felonies After Allegedly Cloning Campus Key Fobs
Police say that a UNC-Chapel Hill undergrad cloned others’ key fobs to gain access to prohibited university buildings.
As reported by WRAL, police charged Andrew Su with breaking & entering and possessing burglary tools, both felonies. Su also received a misdemeanor charge of attempting to break or enter into a building.
A search warrant taken out by campus police states that Su used a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) device to clone others’ key fobs on campus. He then accessed or attempted to illegally access several unauthorized areas for months.
Those areas included residence halls, a fire equipment room, and a private apartment. At one point, the warrant states, Su “attempted to go into other offices in an attempt to locate and take a master key.”
UNC-Chapel Hill discovered Su’s actions in late October after an employee noticed irregularities in the system. The warrant shows Su’s legal activity had been going on for roughly two months.
Su’s attorney, Patrick Roberts, called the situation an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and claimed that “there was no malicious intent.” According to the warrant, Su told authorities that he wanted to be able to access his friend’s dorm more easily.
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Su was formally charged on November 15 after police seized three cards, three key fobs, and an RFID reader/writer from his dorm room.
Roberts wrote, “Mr. Su is a Dean’s List student who attends UNC on scholarships that cover his full tuition … Mr. Su cooperated fully with law enforcement and he looks forward to addressing the charges in court.”
WRAL asked UNC if it knows of any other similar incidents of this happening on campus, and if the university is reviewing its security protocols. In a statement, a UNC spokesperson responded:
“We are not aware of any previous issues of a flexpass being duplicated. There is a system in place to identify a breach in our security protocols, and it worked in this situation. We will examine current protocols and implement additional security enhancements to further strengthen residence hall security as necessary.”
