5 ms·
Has there ever been a lock which he could not pick?
by mongol 5y ago
Has there ever been a lock which he could not pick?
- dskloet 5y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29367405 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29367405
- szundi 5y agoThat would be interesting to know
- mongol 5y agoYes. After having watched the keynote, I have mixed feelings. He keeps repeating how awful common locks are, and that it is in the interest of lock users that that is revealed. But never does he mention how a lock buyer can evaluate if a lock is good. What should we look out for?
- timonoko 5y agoFrom a row of cheap locks, you can easily find the best. The key has deep cut (ie long pin) first. It is really difficult to pick behind that first pin.
- timonoko 5y agoAlso the long pin might be long enuff to prevent comping, as demonstrated by the Lock Picking Lawyer.
- codezero 5y agoLook out for (keep away from) US residential lock brands, like Schlage or anything you can buy at Home Depot. Newer Kwikset locks are OK but still susceptible to some more moderate attacks with a shim. In general, try to get any “rated” European lock. They have standards for pick resistance and brute force resistance unlike retail US locks. Look for something with dimple pins, an active element, or multiple pin stacks with security pins, trap pins (anti tamper). With all that said I don’t think the low security locks we have are such a problem. You can break a window open or just find an unlocked door if you are looking to do some bad shit. I like how Schuyler Towne put it: locks are just a social contract. I’m saying, hey, don't go opening that door, and as a civil society we agree not to. A higher security lock on your home isn’t going to make your flimsy door harder to kick down, or your window harder to break, so yeah it’s nice to be educated on the security trade offs you make physically, but I’m not sure it’s important to beef up residential security in the US.
- mongol 5y agoI don't agree that locks are "just" a social contract. If they were, the most simple and cheap lock would be sufficient for everything. They are a social contract, but they are also for theft prevention. Those people that are determined to take something from you don't care about that contract and you need as good lock as possible to make it hard for them.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- codezero 5y agoBut attacking the lock is the last thing a smart or determined person will do. Sure a better lock helps, this is why most modern cars have much better locks than homes, but even they can be easily opened with the right tools, and often even easier with improvised tools. Most locks really are cheap and sufficient for everything, in the US, at least, because we are using them right now. Schlage and Master Lock are everywhere and I taught my sister to pick them in a single sitting over drinks. Even the most common combination locks are easily openable without any tools whatsoever. All those key holding real estate locks are even easier to open than the doors the containing key opens. But remember, social contracts of all kinds get broken, and that’s why we have a justice system.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Eelongate 5y ago> But attacking the lock is the last thing a smart or determined person will do. I think that is contextual. In a whole lot of apartment buildings, the windows into the apartment are inaccessible from the outside. The door frame is metal, so kicking down the door would wake half the apartment building. Without a lock on the door, anybody who got into the building (generally easy) could silently enter any unoccupied apartment and nobody would know it. But with a good lock, nearly every would-be thief who can't pick locks will go someplace else.
- mongol 5y agoI am surprised that my comment is downvoted. I think my criticism is valid
- smolder 5y agoI think because you somewhat misunderstood the point of the keynote at this security conference. Giving advice about how to buy better locks is either going to be too basic or too lengthy & detail oriented for a presentation of this kind, meant to promote the practice of picking and give historical context. (And entertain.)
- alserio 5y agoIf you watch the conf video, he couldn't get into his wife's Beaver and just gave up. But he's done it with ease in other videos.
- arka2147483647 5y agoWhat would be the odds that was an intentional joke!
- dugmartin 5y agoWatch his April Fools Day videos - they are full of not very subtle innuendo (and pretty funny).
- aix1 5y agoFor those not familiar with his channel, he's got a whole April Fools theme going. Here's another classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9VewWKfH_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9VewWKfH_0
- Twisol 5y agoVery intentional. He's also quite self-aware -- later in the same keynote, he says something about using a hole for something it wasn't designed for, then notes how wrong that sounded.
- the_mitsuhiko 5y agoA lot of security locks he does not pick. I know that quite a few EVVA locks people were interested in but they were never picked.
- cillian64 5y agoLast time I looked I couldn’t find any convincing videos of anyone picking an Abloy Protec2 cylinder. Abloy cylinders aren’t that uncommon so I took that as a sign of these locks being basically unpickable rather than nobody trying.
- unclekev 5y ago> Abloy Protec2 cylinder Something I hear quite often in lock picking circles is "The only quick/reliable bypass for a Protec2 is a titanium drill bit" They are exceptionally difficult to try and bypass with traditional methods. I've been picking as a hobby for 15+ years and picking the Protec2 is a pipe dream I spent far too long chasing. Never got it.
- novok 5y agoFor people who don't know much about drill bits, but know that steel is harder than titanium, it's a drill coating of titanium nitride or similar according to wikipedia that makes it harder than stainless steel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit#Coatings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit#Coatings