Thumbprint locks on a laptop won't usefully respond to a bolt cutter. A padlock was just a convenient example. Even then, bolt cutters don't work in the strong

Thumbprint locks on a laptop won't usefully respond to a bolt cutter. A padlock was just a convenient example. Even then, bolt cutters don't work in the strongest of them: angle grinders are a popular choice in that case, but are a lot more obvious. You can't hide a small angle grind up your coat sleeve and quickly snap the hasp on a bike lock. In any case, the bolt cutters approach is also why I stipulated "putting aside brute force". Because in the context of computer security as with this article, something a bit more subtle seems to be effective more often, especially against higher end security.