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Turns out if you do research, it is hard to get much better than Medeco for mechanical locks.

You haven't done much research then. Just look at ABLOY, they really have unpickable locks. If you don't believe me, just take a look at some of the lockpicking blogs on the internets. TOOOL is a nice starting point: http://www.toool.nl/index-eng.php

Why "thief"? What has been stolen here? I think it's more like preventing Tool (or other clubs of that sort) from publishing it's articles/guides/technical information about locks and lockpicking.

Tobias says he refuses to publish details of 'defeating' the locks because they are used in places ranging from homes, banks and jewelers to the White House and the Pentagon. He asked AFP not to disclose how it is done.

I remember reading about how most locks can be easily defeated using a technique called bumping. This site also has PDFs and videos describing how it's done. Also searching Google for "bumping" gives you a lot of information on the subject, so unless this is something radically new, I don't understand what they're trying to hide.

Have you ever tried? Personally, I'd like to do so just to see if it works.

Bumping a disk tumbler lock ? It doesn't have pins. The key doesn't have cut teeth, instead it has segments that rotate disks. Only when the disks have been rotated to the correct position relative to each other does the lock open.

Just see this PDF for details :).

There was a talk about this at the most recent HOPE conference by the head of Toool. The audio is avalable for download (128kbps, 16kbps).Toool also has a paper on the subject.

There was a talk about this at the most recent HOPE conference by the head of Toool. The audio is avalable for download (128kbps, 16kbps).Toool also has a paper on the subject.

ABLOY makes some of the best locks in the world, their system is completely different from the basic American pin/tumbler system.

Read some professional lock hacker reviews of them from The Open Organization of Lockpickers (right side, pdf, 4 parts)

Recommendations: Abloy classic or Abloy Exec. Notice that both of these have discs, that need to be rotated to the proper position by tilted slots in the key, before the key can be fully turned. No springs to fool around with that wear out. Here's a detailed lockpicker's writeup: part 1, part 2. (pdf)

Recommendations: Abloy classic or Abloy Exec. Notice that both of these have discs, that need to be rotated to the proper position by tilted slots in the key, before the key can be fully turned. No springs to fool around with that wear out. Here's a detailed lockpicker's writeup: part 1, part 2. (pdf)

The Open Organization of Lockpickers has a fairly in depth discussion of the Abloy series of locks. So far they do not know of anyone who can pick the most recent release of locks from Abloy (The Protec). The other series of locks do not appear to be subject to bumping. Still subject to Picking or decoding though. I think the fear is that most people use Yale/Master/Cole for their locks. "Abloy is a hoighty toighty lock for rich people who want to feel safer".

For what it's worth, there's some Abloy information at tool.nl for the curious.

I've been reading about this a bit lately and found an interesting paper on bumping locks at http://www.toool.nl/bumping.pdf

They also have a section on locks that resist bumping:

There are mechanisms that do not allow for the two pins to separate except when slid sideways, such as used in the Emhart interlocking lock (which is not being produced anymore). As far as we can see, such a mechanism would successfully foil the bumping attack. Also some mechanisms which have a one-piece locking mechanism (such as a 'sidebar') may resist bumping. Locks that involve rotating discs (such as Abloy Protec) or magnets (such as Evva MCS and Anker) are also not susceptible to this attack. Klaus Noch sells modified standard Euro profile locks which lock up (i.e. 'broken but closed') upon most attempted manipulations, including bumping.

I found the Abloy Protec lock (with rotating discs) especially interesting and I'm going to get this for my own front door when I get the chance. On the same website they have an paper on the Abloy Protec as well: http://www.toool.nl/abloypart3.pdf

I've been reading about this a bit lately and found an interesting paper on bumping locks at http://www.toool.nl/bumping.pdf

They also have a section on locks that resist bumping:

There are mechanisms that do not allow for the two pins to separate except when slid sideways, such as used in the Emhart interlocking lock (which is not being produced anymore). As far as we can see, such a mechanism would successfully foil the bumping attack. Also some mechanisms which have a one-piece locking mechanism (such as a 'sidebar') may resist bumping. Locks that involve rotating discs (such as Abloy Protec) or magnets (such as Evva MCS and Anker) are also not susceptible to this attack. Klaus Noch sells modified standard Euro profile locks which lock up (i.e. 'broken but closed') upon most attempted manipulations, including bumping.

I found the Abloy Protec lock (with rotating discs) especially interesting and I'm going to get this for my own front door when I get the chance. On the same website they have an paper on the Abloy Protec as well: http://www.toool.nl/abloypart3.pdf

Here is a video of Key Bumping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uv45y6vkcQ&search= bump%20key
Quite fascinating how easy it is, and in the end of the video they even show a 17-pin lock being bumped!

If you are interested in the guys in the video, here is their URL http://www.toool.nl/index-eng.php

... it's just this easy to break into a Kensington laptop lock.