3 ms·
I feel like this is a complete misunderstanding of the threat model here. Keys are not "like passwords", because to use a key you need to physically go up to so
by x1798DE 12y ago
I feel like this is a complete misunderstanding of the threat model here. Keys are not "like passwords", because to use a key you need to physically go up to someone's door, whereas with a password, you can generally do so from a computer terminal anywhere in the world, potentially using anonymizing proxies.
If anyone in the world could anonymously try and open my doors and, if they succeeded, could steal my valuables, locks would have been found insecure a long time ago.
Yes, the author here doesn't know how to use lockpicks or a crowbar to break into a house. The author also has presumably never tried to steal something from a house. Houses are generally just secure enough that the casual passer-by can't easily get into them, but not secure enough that if you really wanted to you couldn't get in. Most people who pick locks will tell you that picking locks is not a particularly good way to break into a house to steal things because breaking into a house is easy when you don't mind destroying someone's property. If you're a criminal you don't need anything more sophisticated than a crowbar (and even then you might just walk around until you find a door that's not locked at all).
So sure, maybe this makes one particular attack marginally easier (not really all that much easier than it was before), but illicit key duplication is still not the weakest part of your physical security by a long shot, so I don't think there's anything to worry about.
- hox 12y agoYou seem to only care about theft. What about restricting access to those who have other reasons to break into someone's property? Spurned lovers, coworkers, friends you can't really trust... The kind of people who would actually have access to take photographs of your keys to begin with?
- x1798DE 12y agoThis only adds the ability to copy keys with momentary access to your keys. Anyone with sustained access to your keys can just take them down to the hardware store, so this doesn't really change the "spurned lovers" equation. I don't see why the other people would want to break into my house if they weren't interested in stealing my things or hurting me (and if they are just breaking in to like, hang out in my house, that's a bit weird but not really something to lose any sleep over). If they do that habitually, I think they'd find breaking into the house without using a credit card to buy a copy of my key is quicker and less risky than using KeyMe. I am not particularly worried about the extremely rare threat model of being my non-criminal friend or coworker's first break-in, where they decide opportunistically to break into my house because I left my keys somewhere and they know they can easily make a copy of them at a kiosk.
- Perdition 12y agoThe issue is thinking average keys and locks are anything but a mild inconvenience. Spurned lovers/friends/coworkers could easily "borrow" a key and get it copied. They could also just get a screwdriver and a rubber mallet and remove the lock, or smash a window.
- agumonkey 12y agoAnd people must be careful if they buy 'secure' doors which can't resist a crowbar too. Unless spending time and money on security, a house is quite easy to break in.