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Kryptonite U-Lock Security Flaw

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the new-york-bike-thieves-not-impressed dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Once upon a time, a magic marker was able to defeat the Key2Audio copy protection scheme of older Sony CDs. Now, it has been shown that a Bic pen can easily open several models of Kryptonite U-locks. Please patch your systems, or install a tracking device on your bikes!"

3 of 554 comments (clear)

  1. New York Lock... by SealBeater · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I used to be a bike messenger and I would have always told you, use a New York
    Lock, which by the way, isn't vunerable to this attack. It's the best lock in
    the world, but at $50, only bike messengers seem to care enough/or know enough
    to pay the money. Honestly, I can't count the number of times I've seen
    expensive 1K and up bikes locked up with a $20 lock. If that.

    SealBeater

    --
    -- Its survival of the fittest...and we got the fucking guns!!!
  2. Re:This doesn't just affect Kryptonite locks by evilviper · · Score: 4, Interesting
    This is a flaw in the barrel style key system.

    No it isn't. It's a flaw in any cheap locks. You can open filling cabinets with a popsicle stick as well, and they aren't barrel locks.

    This is a problem with any lock.

    There are 2 things that a lock needs to prevent picking.

    1) A system that will prevent it from unlocking if any tumbler is pushed even slightly further than it should have been. If this isn't in-place, even a blank-key that fits the lock will open it.

    2) A system that prevents the tumblers from contacting with the locking mechanism. Otherwise, it's trivially easy to pick.

    And that's only to impliment basic security. I don't have any format training, but I can open 90+% of locks I see...

    Amazing as it may seem, quite a few safes don't follow rule #2. That means you can find the combination as fast as you could open it if you knew the combination. Also, it doesn't require any suspicious activity, as you just have a hand on the dial and a hand on the handle like you're someone that should be there...
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  3. It _IS_ a design flaw. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The pins in the lock are vunlerable to being raked because they're all set in roughly the same position. If they were disparate, you couldn't successfully rake them (except if you were very lucky and could bite chunks out of your bic pen to match the right key :)