3 ms·
I never learned "real" lockpicking, but I'm puzzled at how trivial it is to bypass some lock systems. For instance, the Kensington laptop lock, which was purcha
by ceautery 10y ago
I never learned "real" lockpicking, but I'm puzzled at how trivial it is to bypass some lock systems. For instance, the Kensington laptop lock, which was purchased in bulk for all the laptops of a large utility I worked for some years back.
I once misplaced my key, and managed to pick the lock with a small strip of plastic used to bind boxes of printer paper. The longest part of the endeavor was finding a pair of scissors to cut the plastic to the right size.
The lock/cable in question retails for about $40. Assuming we paid half that, we still dumped thousands of dollars on presenting only an image of security.
- AtheistOfFail 10y agoThose things aren't designed for the dedicated guy who can pick it, they're designed for someone who breaks in and just grabs laptops as they go.
- Godel_unicode 10y agoThis expands to the general case purpose of locks. They're not to guarantee security, but rather to raise the threshold. Much like DRM, they're all about preventing easy mass theft.
- arkades 10y agoI think his point is: it takes little skill (because I figured out how to do it on the fly) and little equipment (ziptie). Implicitly: anyone with any interest in grabbing laptops could spend 5 minutes on youtube and 5 minutes prepping a ziptie, and maybe 20 minutes practicing, and be as capable of walking around grabbing laptops as he was before the security locks were purchased.
- ohyes 10y agoAnd you'd just use some wire cutters for that.
- ghaff 10y agoI don't know how useful they are in a typical restricted access company environment. They make more sense at places like tradeshows where they may not stop a serious thief but probably are good enough to deter sticky fingers while someone's back is turned.