The airport openings nobody has a record of
An airport already runs a serious badge system on the doors between landside and airside. That is not the problem. The problem is everything the badge system was never extended to: perimeter service gates, navaid and lighting vaults, jet bridge cabinets, baggage handling panels, fuel farm valves, deicing pads, remote hangars, comms shelters and the hundreds of tenant and contractor spaces spread across the field.
Those openings run on mechanical keys, held by airlines, ground handlers, fuel providers, construction crews and maintenance contractors. Nobody can say with confidence how many copies exist. When a key goes missing, rekeying an airfield is not a realistic answer.
The reason is always power. A reader needs a wire and a power run. A perimeter gate a mile out, a lighting vault in the infield or a cabinet on a jet bridge has neither. A CyberLock cylinder needs no wiring and no battery at the opening: power comes from the battery inside the CyberKey the moment the key touches the lock.
What gets secured across an airfield
| Area | Typical opening | What changes |
| Perimeter and service gates | Gate padlocks, pedestrian gate cylinders | Per-gate records at points with no power run. |
| Airfield lighting and navaid vaults | Door cylinders, hatch padlocks | Accountability at infield structures nobody staffs. |
| Jet bridges and gate equipment | Cabinet cam locks and cylinders | Ground handler access tied to a named person. |
| Baggage handling and belt panels | Panel cylinders | Contractor access that expires on its own. |
| Fuel farms and hydrant pits | Weather resistant padlocks | Outdoor assets with nothing to trench to. |
| Comms shelters and IT closets | Mortise, rim or euro-profile cylinders | Physical access records for critical equipment. |
| Tenant hangars and cargo cages | Padlocks and door cylinders | Tenant separation without a controller per space. |
Contractors, tenants and the keys nobody returns
Access is issued against a schedule instead of handed over. A construction crew, a ground handler or a fuel technician gets a key that opens named openings, on named days, between named hours, and stops working when that window closes. Nothing has to be collected at the badging office, and an unreturned key expires on its own.
If a key is lost you disable it in CyberAudit Web and it stops opening locks. Locks also hold a lost key list, up to 500 entries on Generation 2 non-padlock models, so a named key can be refused at the cylinder itself. No gate is rekeyed and no other key is affected.
One CyberKey can carry up to 3,300 locks, or up to 12,000 lock list entries on a Generation 2 key with the Lock List Expansion module, across as many as 49 schedules. A crew carries one key for the whole field, and what it opens is decided in software.
The audit trail
Every cylinder records the lock ID, the date, the time and whether access was granted. A standard cylinder stores 1,100 events in Generation 1 mode and 6,500 in Generation 2. The CyberKey keeps its own separate trail of up to 3,900 events, or 12,000 on a Generation 2 key, and it always records a refusal, so an attempt on a gate someone was not cleared for is captured even though the gate never opened.
That gives an airport a per-opening record for the parts of the field a badge system never reached, which is usually exactly what an inspection asks about.
Two people at one opening
Standard CyberLock cylinders can require two or more keys presented in succession before the lock opens, and can require those keys to belong to different schedules, so one person carrying two keys will not satisfy it. An open delay can hold the lock shut for up to 17 minutes after first contact. For a fuel valve, a navaid vault or a cargo cage, that is dual custody without posting a guard.
What a rollout looks like
1. We survey the openings. Gate padlocks, door cylinders, hatches and cabinet cam locks each take a different format. With over 450 cylinder designs the goal is to match hardware already on the field.
2. We fit a pilot. A handful of real openings, real keys, real crews. Most cylinder swaps take as little as 30 seconds; awkward formats run 10 to 15 minutes. Nothing is drilled and nothing is wired, so nothing goes out of service.
3. You read the audit trail. You see which openings were used, by whom and when, before committing to anything.
Common questions about airport access control
Can we secure perimeter gates that have no power?
Yes, and it is the usual reason airports look at CyberLock. There is no wiring and no battery at the lock. Power comes from the battery inside the CyberKey when the key touches the cylinder. A service gate a mile from the terminal gets full access control and a full audit trail with nothing to plug in and no trenching.
Does this replace our badge system?
No, and it should not. Badge readers keep doing the terminal doors and the landside to airside boundary. CyberLock covers everything they were never extended to: perimeter gates, vaults, jet bridge cabinets, panels, fuel assets, shelters and tenant spaces. CyberAudit Web can also manage doors connected to the Flex System, so both live in one application.
Can we give a construction contractor access for a defined period?
Yes. A key is issued against a schedule naming which locks it opens, on which days and between which hours, and it stops working when that window closes. Nothing has to be collected afterwards and an unreturned key simply expires.
What happens when a tenant or contractor loses a key?
You disable it in CyberAudit Web and it stops opening locks. Locks also hold a lost key list, up to 500 entries on Generation 2 non-padlock models, so a named key can be refused at the cylinder itself. Nothing is rekeyed and no other key is affected.
Do we get a record of attempted entry?
The CyberKey always records a no access event in its own audit trail, so an attempt at an opening someone was not cleared for is captured even though the lock never opened. Locks do not record denied attempts by default, though that can be configured.
How many openings can one key cover?
Up to 3,300 locks on a standard key, or up to 12,000 lock list entries on a Generation 2 key with the Lock List Expansion module, across up to 49 separate schedules. A master key has no limit. A crew normally carries one key for the whole field.
Will the hardware survive on an airfield?
CyberLock makes weather resistant padlocks and cylinder formats intended for exterior doors, gates, cages and containers. Over 450 designs cover interior and exterior openings, so the format is matched to where the asset actually sits.
Can we require two people to open a fuel valve or vault?
Yes, on standard cylinders. The lock can require two or more keys presented in succession and can require those keys to belong to different schedules, so one person carrying two keys will not satisfy it. An open delay can hold it shut for up to 17 minutes after first contact.
Can we try it on our own gates first?
Yes. We run free pilots. We fit a small number of your openings, issue keys to the people who actually use them, and you read the audit trail before committing to anything.
