It can’t be ignored any longer – we’ve arrived at an inflection point for the access control industry. As organizations launch initiatives to help customers transition away from proximity technology, such as the Wavelynx "Transition to Modern" and rf IDEAS "Move to Secure", it is clear that security professionals worldwide are confronting an uncomfortable truth: the proximity card technology that revolutionized building access three decades ago has become the industry's most significant vulnerability.
But here's the challenge: many organizations don't actually know what type of credential technology they're using. That five-year-old access card that works perfectly? It could be secure modern technology—or it could be decades-old 125 kHz proximity technology with zero encryption, aka a “prox card.” Without consulting your vendor or checking technical documentation, there's often no way to tell the difference just by looking at the card.
At the LEAF Community, we're adding our voice to this critical conversation—not to promote any single vendor's solution, but to help organizations understand why this transition matters and how universal standards can ensure their security investments remain flexible, future-proof, and truly secure.
Before we dive into why transitioning away from legacy proximity technology matters, let's address a fundamental question: Do you actually know what type of access control technology your organization uses?
Many security decision-makers inherit existing systems without full documentation of the credential technology deployed. Here are some indicators you may be using legacy 125 kHz proximity cards:
If any of these apply, your organization may rely on legacy technology (better known as “prox”) that is a security liability for your ecosystem—and you should keep reading. The only way to know for certain is to consult with your integrator or access control vendor about your specific credential technology.
The numbers tell a sobering story. According to IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.44 million in 2025, with organizations taking an average of 241 days to identify and contain breaches—the lowest in nine years, yet still representing significant exposure windows. Meanwhile, industry security experts have demonstrated that 125 kHz proximity cards can be cloned in approximately five seconds using equipment available online for as little as $20. In a recent video, Wavelynx shows how truly easy this is to do.
This isn't theoretical risk. Security researchers have documented that the absence of security on 125 kHz cards makes them extremely easy to clone, allowing anyone with ill intentions to impersonate the legitimate owner and gain access to areas normally off-limits. For organizations managing sensitive data, intellectual property, or critical infrastructure, every legacy proximity card in circulation is a potential point of failure that could expose what you’re trying to protect to unauthorized access. In HID’s “2024 State of Physical Access Report” a survey sample of end users and channel partners showed that well over a third of access control systems still utilize prox technology.
Three converging factors make now the critical time for this transition:
Breach costs continue climbing: According to IBM's 2025 report, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.44 million in 2025. While this represents a 9% decrease from 2024 due to faster detection and containment, physical access control vulnerabilities remain a persistent entry point that organizations can eliminate through credential upgrades. Some reports claim that more than 1 in 5 data breaches are due to credential abuse.
Technological accessibility: Tools like the Flipper Zero have made proximity card cloning accessible to non-technical users. As documented by IPVM's analysis, HID's own director of business development noted that these devices render 125 kHz cards "not just obsolete, but actually dangerous."
Compliance pressure: As organizations face increasing scrutiny around data protection and security standards, legacy proximity cards create indefensible vulnerabilities that auditors and regulators can no longer overlook.
Wavelynx's comprehensive transition guide captures the practical realities organizations face when migrating away from legacy proximity technology. Their framework outlines four primary transition strategies—from complete replacement to phased approaches—each with distinct advantages depending on organizational size, budget constraints, and security priorities.
What makes their guide particularly valuable is its acknowledgment of the hidden costs organizations often encounter: licensing fees for adding new technologies to credential ecosystems, integration expenses when upgrading communication protocols, and the labor costs of reconfiguring systems during phased transitions.
These are real challenges that demand real solutions—and this is where the conversation about interoperability becomes critical.
Here's the uncomfortable question Wavelynx's guide raises: After investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to escape the proximity card vulnerability, how do you ensure you're not simply trading one form of lock-in for another?
This is where the LEAF Community's mission aligns perfectly with the industry transition movement. Moving to secure 13.56 MHz credentials addresses the immediate cloning vulnerability. But choosing credentials and readers that support universal standards like LEAF ensures you can:
Organizations shouldn't have to choose between security and flexibility. Universal standards enable both.
If your organization still relies on 125 kHz proximity cards, the question is no longer whether to transition—it's how to transition strategically.
In the coming weeks, we'll explore this transition in depth through a series of articles that examine:
The industry-wide transition away from legacy proximity technology isn't about any single company's campaign—it's about an industry collectively acknowledging that we can do better. LEAF Community members are providing the tools and guidance to make this transition successful. The LEAF Community is ensuring the conversation includes long-term strategic thinking about interoperability and vendor independence.
Together, we're working toward an access control ecosystem where security and flexibility aren't competing priorities, but complementary strengths.
The LEAF Community creates universal standards for access control systems to achieve interoperability across the industry. We bring together leading companies and organizations to overcome vendor lock-in barriers and promote standardized frameworks that allow different access control technologies to work together seamlessly. Learn more at leaf-community.com.
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