Attn: Your Bike Locks and Laptop Locks can be easily broken

POSTED BY: Jasonzzz
UPDATED: Saturday, September 18, 2004 14:42
VIEWED: 3276
PAGE 1 of 1

JASONZZZ

Friday, September 17, 2004 4:33 PM

NYTimes article this morning (soul-stealing registration required) saids that it is very possible to crack open a particular type of Bike Locks and Laptop Locks very simply and quickly with an empty Bic pen barrel. I've included the link to the article, the article in text itself (so you don't have to sell your soul to the NYTimes as well), and also the link to a movie to the lock breaking itself. If you have one of these types of locks on your bike or on your laptop, time to get a new one.

This is *not* a joke. "Tell your friends before the thiefs tell theirs."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/nyregion/17lock.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/bic/krypto_ev_disc_web.mov

September 17, 2004
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Lock
By LYDIA POLGREEN

The cunning bicycle thieves of New York City always seem to be one step ahead of lockmakers. Design a more sophisticated lock and the thieves make a better pick. Make a sturdier chain and they get bigger bolt cutters. And if all else fails, they just dig up the parking meter or stop sign to unshackle the bike from it. But to open some of the toughest locks on the market, a thief needs only to flick his Bic pen.

Many cyclists erupted in disbelief and anger this week after videos were posted on the Internet showing how a few seconds of work could pick many of the most expensive and common U-shaped locks, including several models made by Kryptonite, the most recognized brand.

Mashing the empty barrel of a ballpoint pen into the cylindrical keyhole and turning it clockwise does the trick that has struck fear into the hearts of bicycle owners, especially those in New York, where thousands of bikes are stolen each year.

"There was murmuring on various Web sites, and so I decided to go home and pick up a pen and see it if works," said Benjamin Running, a graphic designer who lives in downtown Brooklyn. "Sure enough, within 30 seconds I had broken into my $90 lock. I was in awe. My jaw literally dropped to the floor. It was so easy."

And many Internet users had the same reaction this week when they saw the homemade video he posted on his blog of his Kryptonite NY Chain popping open.

The problem could have wider consequences. Lock experts said the fault was with a particular type of cylindrical lock that is used not just in bike locks but in vending machines, cable locks for laptop computers, alarm system panels and countless other places.

Not all such locks are vulnerable, because some are built with more sophistication. Older Kryptonite locks made before 2002 appear to be less susceptible, according to bike shops that have tried to use the technique on them.

But this type of mechanism is used on most of the bicycle locks that are used by millions of people around the country, not just those made by Kryptonite (although the company said yesterday that a new and better model was on the way).

As the news spread, bicycle shops across the nation pulled the locks off their shelves and cyclists left their bikes at home, wondering if anything could keep their wheels safe.

"You would think for $80 for a bike lock it would be secure," said Marc Weber Tobias, an investigative lawyer and security expert, whose Web site, security.org, has posted warnings about the flaws of cylindrical locks like the ones used in U-locks. "But this doesn't surprise me at all."

The trick works because the pen has the right diameter and is rigid enough to hold its general shape but pliable enough to mold into a sort of key that opens the lock. Mr. Tobias said the vulnerability of such locks was well known in security circles.

"These are cheaply manufactured locks with serious design flaws," he said. "You can't possibly think your bike is safe with one of these locks."

The uproar appears to have started on Sunday, when Chris Brennan, a cyclist in San Francisco, posted an urgent message on the bikeforums.net bulletin board after he was able to pop open his lock with a pen.

Like many people, he had been skeptical, but doubts were quickly dispelled when users like Mr. Run

SOUPCATCHER

Friday, September 17, 2004 5:26 PM

Wow. Great catch, Jasonzzz. I'm going to have to check my bike lock and pass this information along.

Oh, in regards to sites that require registration, there's a website where people have uploaded their login data. Just go to http://www.bugmenot.com/ and type in the url and, if they have an account for that web site in their database, they'll provide the login and password. (They also have a plug in feature that I've been playing around with and really enjoying - you just menu click on any login and it will fill in a name and password if it's in the database).

I shaved off my beard for you, devil woman!

THEGREYJEDI

Friday, September 17, 2004 7:54 PM

I like how the faulty locks come from a company based in CANTON, Mass.

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AILIAN

Saturday, September 18, 2004 1:34 PM

Hey, Canton is a very nice place! Very different from Canton, PRC though. ;)

When I was a student in Boston, USA I too rode a bicycle and always used a Kryptonite lock like those described in the article. When I left, I mailed my keys to a friend (I had forgot to leave them with her) and two weeks later my bicycle was still there (actually, thinking about it, I had two locks -- one flat and one cylindar). =)

Still, those locks are better than any locks used here in China, where bicycle theft is more of a problem. A four year old could break my lock. :/

SGTGUMP

Saturday, September 18, 2004 2:42 PM

I heard a friend of mine say one time that all a lock does is keep an honest man honest. That really made sense to me. If you do any checking on the net you can find all kinds of places to buy lock picking kits for any kind of lock. I have told that to people and most of them believe that it is illegal to own them. But I have done a little research, and anyone can own a lock picking kit.

Be good.