His most unusual attack may have been using Gallium to break the aluminum body of a lock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeghGhVdt9s

His magnetic attack[1] on a common commercial lock that's no longer in use was entertaining too.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCay5ek_cW0

Thanks for an LPL reference!

Speaking of "smartlocks": here’s one that doesn’t even need a drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeCGTosv-_c

Edit: and another one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGpMaShltbc

That looked like a pretty heavy duty lock, but as a kid I learned that a hammer or smashing a lock against the ground works most of the time.

In something like a shipping container the actual lock is shielded away from these types of attacks by the container itself.

Interesting - I do wonder how well that attack would work in a normal use setting where it could become much harder to brace the lock against something.

I don't see the point though. Isn't this precisely what bolt cutters are to be used for?

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> Can you do that if it is dangling from a chain between two gate halves? Or would you bring out a bench and vise to your target?

I would just mount a clamp to the front of the Ramset gun.

> Is the drill able to be positioned in such a manner when the lock is installed on a door? It doesn't look like it.

It really looks like it to me, you need to drill the front of the door.

I was particularly looking for such (in fact these) questions while going backwards through the article again, and I must say:

I don't think you have a point here. All of these steps can be easily done while the lock is on the door. There are plenty of tools availabe to drill holes this way.

Nobody said it is "faster/slower/easier/more difficult" than existing attacks. It is a valid attack, it is quick and it makes almost no noise and worse: It isn't even obvious (you need to actively search for a tiny hole, otherwise you're just assuming all is OK)

> Ok, you drilled open a smart lock. Is the drill able to be positioned in such a manner when the lock is installed on a door?

He drilled it from the front; the face is off in the picture where he's opening the latch with the screwdriver to better show where the mechanism is.

Sure but that entry is then really a lot more obvious. The kind of small hole they propose to drill here might not get noticed by a security guard doing the rounds, and would offer the ability for repeated near-covert entry.

Yes. The truth is most (and I mean nearly all) residential door frames snap like a match stick with a hooligan tool.

In a previous life I kicked in doors for a living. I don’t give a fuck how cool your dead bolt is. I could be in your face before you were out of bed.

If you want to keep out lazy thieves any lock will do. If you’re preventing against a dynamic entry you need trip wires, man traps, metal door frames, and a 12ga shotgun.

Why is everyone calling this "hooligan" instead of "Halligan" tool?

> Isn't the point of a lock just to keep honest people honest?

No. Honest people don't need to be "kept honest".

Locks have the same purpose as other security systems (including electronic ones like crypto, etc.).

They aren't intended to (and can't) keep a determined attacker out. What they do is increase the cost (in terms of time, effort, risk, etc.) of gaining access. The point is -- as far as possible -- to make the cost of gaining access exceed the benefit that would be gained by that access.

Take a look at some of the European armoured doors, especially those in Italy. The door and frame come as a single piece, where the frame is made from hardened steel. I assume the door is too, but they are covered in some sort of veneer.

There is a basic cylinder lock which needs a 90 degree turn from the key outside, or the knob inside. Then there is the deadbolt mechanism which needs to be turned five or so times, and drives 1/2" steel bolts deep into the frame.

http://is.alicdn.com/img/pb/172/617/299/299617172_794.jpg

(Something like "normal", but this is a cheap Chinese knock off)

A few years ago a neighbour called the police because their son had locked himself in the apartment and they thought he was a suicide risk. They brought in the fire department to break in, but rather than cutting through the door, it was easier for them to cut through the masonry wall. Windows here are typically just as secure with triple glazing and multi-point locking as standard, and this was the third floor.

>If someone is determined and willing, there really is nothing you can do to stop them from breaking into your house.

Yes and no. If someone desperately wants to rob you, and precisely you, then yeah they will most likely be able to break in. However that doesn't mean we should make it easy for them. The longer it takes to bypass my lock and security, the more noise they make, the more destruction they leave behind the more likely it is that someone will notice them and call the cops. The more likely it is that they leave something behind that can be used to trace them, etc.

The bigger reason to get quality locks is that criminals often target places with weak security, because hitting those location is easy. A burglar for example will usually case out a location they're targeting to figure out what they need to bring for the actual burglarly. Now if I have SuperArmorMax extra secure lock that takes the burglar an hour to bypass with power tools, but my neighbor has an aluminum smartlock that can be bypassed in 5 seconds with a regular drill, which do you think the burglar will target?

Sure they could also break windows, or try other more destructive entry methods, but those are much louder and rouse more suspoicions from other people. You want to be quick and minimize the time you spend doing something shady.

And again, you shouldn't make things easy just because a determined attacker can get through it, at least make them work for it.

A primary point of a lock is to keep people from acting impulsively. Consider these scenarios, ordered by decreasing likelihood of "yes, you would peek your head in" — or "yes, you would slip in and steal something":

If your neighbor leaves their door open, do you peek your head in out of curiosity?

If your neighbor leaves their door unlocked, do you open the door and peek your head in out of curiosity?

If your neighbor locks their door with a combination of 1234, do you open the combination lock, open the door, and peek your head in out of curiosity?

If your neighbor locks their door with a radio-frequency lock, do you install an app to capture their lock signal and replay it later, open the door, and peek your head in out of curiosity?

None of these protect against a determined attacker, but they absolutely do protect against impulsive "low risk, high opportunity" actions.

You can always break in somewhere given time and tools. But like the old saying goes, you don't need to overrun the tiger, you need to overrun the other guy.

If a robber has to choose between a locked door and an unlocked door, they will chose the unlocked one. I used to live in an apartment with a door that was so bad that the previous tenant had to add a second lock just to keep it closed, but one day a burglar came and robbed my neighbor. Discussing about why they chose his rather than mine he noticed "from the outside, it looks like you have hardened your door with a second lock".

And yes, you can break windows (if you have easily accessible windows) but a broken window is a much clearer sign of something going wrong than an opened door.

>Isn't the point of a lock just to keep honest people honest? I mean you can buy the world's sturdiest, more secure lock and attach it to the world's strongest door, someone with a hammer can easily break a window.

In my home, the locks and windows (laminated glass[0]) are hard enough to break that when you attempt to do so I have time to ready my firearm. Something like this would potentially allow someone to sneak up more quickly and perhaps undetected. When my family isn't home I don't really care if you break into my house, insurance will cover the loss.

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2HxWn6eP74

My pet peeve is smart dead bolts. Presumably if you have a dead bolt you are worried enough about security to pay for a lock that's stronger and harder to subvert than a normal door knob lock. After all using 2 keys/locks is a hassle every time you open the door. Presumably because you don't want anyone with a shim/credit card to just pop your latch.

Most would expect a dead bolt to survive a 5 second attack from a 10 year old without specialized tools.

It's sadly common to see a $150 "smart" dead bolt with dramatically less physical security than a $25 dumb dead bolt. Some have plastic cases, easily popped off. Others have plastic gears, easily over torqued. If a kid with a screwdriver can just insert the screwdriver into the keyhole and rotate and open the door you might as well not have a dead bolt.

Yup; I think an important aspect to look out for with locks is whether or not you have to damage / destroy them to get in, because if they do then you have evidence of a break-in meaning the insurance company will pay out. If you have a burglary (for example) done by shims or lockpicks they can claim fraud / no evidence of a break-in and not pay out.

I'd even go as far to say that for burglars it's important to leave traces of a break-in so that the victim can claim insurance.

There are doors... and there are doors

https://youtu.be/ET9SNXpeORY

Of the places I've lived, the back window has been kicked in, the rooftop door has been unlocked, windows pried, and previous roommates broke into others' rooms to steal stuff.

After a break-in I had the most disheartening conversation with the Police :

- put an alarm : they're either too fast to care or they deactivate it

- get a dog : they poison it

- bullet proof door + security lock : they break the wall

etc

No, because then we would all be using wafer locks on our front doors. There’s a balance between strength and price here.

it keep those who are in between. Some people would steal if it easy but not if it hard.

With the Internet and YouTube I don’t think it’s as much of a lemon market as it once was. The information is out there, pretty accessible actually. For example it’s not hard to find that Master and Kwikset might not be the highest security compared to other options. The problem isn’t that the information is hard to find, it’s just that most people aren’t willing to spend more for higher security (could be a few hundred dollars more once you multiply it by a few doors) and it’s easy to convince yourself cheap locks are “good enough” - after all, someone could break a window, kick in the door, etc.

https://iloq.com has well designed self-powered digital and secure locks. You can just replace the lock, no electrical wiring or batteries needed.

The article points out that the lock casing is made of aluminum rather than steel (presumably for aesthetic reasons), which is trivially easy to drill through. A steel casing would take a lot longer and make a lot more noise.

The point is that people in the market for smart locks need to additionally vet the company that makes them for their proficiency in physical security, not just in software security. A competent company that has made non-smart locks for a while would not make this same mistake.

It does, and the physical lock makers know about this threat. My lock has a freely rotating piece of metal that covers the keyhole - you cannot drill through it without first preventing it from rotating.

More advanced locks jam when drilled through. There are also materials that emit lots of smoke when drilled through, mostly used in safes.

What if your phone ran out of power though?

Security by obfuscation, anyone?

He's being flippant. If the logo wasn't there, it would just be a case of measuring N cm to know where to drill.

If you look at the internals of the lock then the tolerance where to drill, and still be able to leverage it open, seems to be pretty big.

As such, they could remove the whole logo and it would still rather easy to approximate where to drill, it's not like measuring dimensions is impossible without a manufacturer logo.

I like keypads. On a rental you can change them when tenants change. At home you can go out with keys or phone. Though it stands to reason you could put a keypad outside and run a wire inside, or use wireless though personally I'm glad my keypad lock isn't smart or wireless.

yeh regular key lock in the door, electronic cam release of the for latch in the frame seems like a much more robust set-up. seal the gadgets in the wall on the inside of the room, no batteries or moving cables.

Yes. But a difficulty of 4 seconds is a bit too low. I expect 30-60 seconds for an door with moderate security.

You don't need a smart lock for that IMHO. Any house alarm usually can detect intrusion.