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Skip the Picks; Expert Uses Hammer To Open a Master Lock (csoonline.com)
itwbennett writes: Buyer beware. If it's security you're looking for, the #3 Master Lock might not be for you. In a video, locksport enthusiast Bosnian Bill demonstrates how to open a new #3 Master Lock using a small brass hammer — in under 90 seconds. This video is just one of several videos he's produced focusing on defeating the security of Master Locks, and, according to Bosnian Bill, has earned him several lawsuit threats from the company.
But I could probably do the hammer thing with a rock I pick up near the location I want to enter, rather than carry a pair of bolt cutters with me.
how to open a new #3 Master Lock using a small brass hammer — in under 90 seconds.
The entire video is 72 seconds long. The actual defeating of the lock takes a grand total of five seconds.
So yeah, technically that is under 90 seconds. But you're really understating it.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Um, this method didn't leave any kind of evidence it was done, he didn't even hit it hard with the hammer, just enough to get the lock catch to release.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
But, can an acetylene torch, bolt cutters, or hydrofluoric acid leave you a complete lack of evidence of tampering? He didn't smash the lock, just tapped it.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Yeah except he's not hitting it "hard" like you're thinking. "If a hammer isn't an option, a screwdriver handle works just as well." -- it's not like he's using a sledgehammer here. This isn't an attack on the structural integrity of the lock itself, it's more unlocking it like a bump key, and you can re-lock it without leaving evidence you messed with it.
When I was in high school (40 years ago), I had a classmate with the colorful name of Print that could pop open Masterlocks with a textbook.
No, the cheaper and more effective solution would be to simply say "well no shit the lock eventually broke if you hit it enough times with a hammer. Even safes can never be completely 100% impenetrable."
but the lock didn't break -- it unlocked, so he can steal your stuff, put the lock back on, and when the security guard checks on it an hour later, he'll confirm that it's still securely locked and you won't know for days or weeks that your stuff was stolen.
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"derp, you can open a lock by hitting it friggin hard with a hammer"
Yes indeed.
No, he's not hitting it hard with a hammer. This approach is not about brute force, it's about applying a shock to over come a small spring that holds the pin that locks the shackle closed.
But everybody needs to realize that locks and keys only keep honest people honest anyway. There is not much you can do to stop somebody from breaking in if they really want to. About all you can hope for is to make it take long enough to break in that they get caught when they try.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Doesn't totally twatting the fuck out of the lock leave the bolt(s) still engaged?
Oh hang on, it's a padlock. Where not only the body of the lock, but the actual bit that links to the door is completely exposed.
Try this one neat trick with an angle grinder!
An angle grinder makes a lot more noise, is harder to keep in a pocket, and prevents you from locking it back up again to hide your tracks.
This isn't like "oh, I can eventually break this lock by smashing it", it's "this lock opens if you tap it in the right place". It takes seconds, and requires nothing in the way of fancy technique or specialized tools.
Yes, we all get it, any lock can be defeated - but this isn't the right story to use that stock comment on. This isn't someone smashing a small lock with a big hammer - this is someone demonstrating how defective a particular lock is, and it makes for an entertaining little video.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
Its not just hammers, this guy has shown how to get into these licks with a plastic zip tie and all sorts of other things that it shouldn't ever be possible to open a lock with.
Master Lock makes junk locks and anyone who uses one for anything important is an idiot.
Hammer time!
Slashbonk: Technology news for cavemen, stuff that splatters.
1. Hacking with blunt objects
2. Encryption by smashing to pieces
3. Decryption? Make the cave-women do it!
4. Bronze vs. rocks, does it matter?
5. Will your job be outsourced to Pangaea?
6. How to tell if you are on Pangaea
8. How to get more cave-women into smashing
7. When to run from volcanoes
9. Numbering lists correctly
10. What are numbers?
11. What are lists?
12. Does it run Cavix?
Table-ized A.I.
... it's quite evident that not many posters actually watched the video.
The lock isn't being smashed, bashed, smacked or slammed. It's being gently tapped with a brass hammer.
So mentioning bolt cutters, sledge hammers and acetylene torches is about as pertinent as launching into a diatribe about how Mandarin is a hard language to learn, with all of it's tonal inflections, when the discussion topic is about programming languages...
You know the old saying "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"?
Who'd have thought it can be right...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
But everybody needs to realize that locks and keys only keep honest people honest anyway. There is not much you can do to stop somebody from breaking in if they really want to. About all you can hope for is to make it take long enough to break in that they get caught when they try.
That's completely false. An honest person wouldn't steal someone else's stuff, whether it's locked up or not. A lock is a basic form of security that only keeps someone whose dishonesty is only being kept in check by having to expend any effort at all.
It's all on a spectrum. If someone is totally honest, no locks are required. If someone is slightly dishonest, they might decide that defeating the lock isn't worth the effort or the reward, so the lock protects the thing. If someone is hell bent on defeating the lock for whatever reason, then they'll do it, or work as hard as possible to do it.
But to say that locks are only good to protect your stuff from honest people (who, if they were honest, wouldn't steal it anyway) is ludicrous.
This a new lock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
It's on kickstarter now:
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...
You'd think Master Lock with all their cash would come up with clever ideas like this lock's mechanism.
yeah, but that leaves evidence.
This method does not leave evidence that the lock was opened. Someone could easily open the lock, take something, and relock it without the owner thinking anything was up. A bolt cutter would leave a broken lock which means the owner knows he was robbed.
That's why this is an important hack - because insurance often won't pay if there's no physical evidence of a break-in. Think of it - you could enter your neighbour's locked shed and steam their power tools, relock the shed, and the owner wouldn't know about it until they open the shed again. It could easily be months before the theft is discovered.
I think the concern is you can open the lock without any physical damage, get what you want, and close the lock (they didn't demonstrate that on the video, but it looks like it's fine). They barely tapped the lock with the hammer, and you could do it with any small weighted object. Much less obvious than bolt cutters.
"Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
I used to apprentice for a local locksmith company.
The Masterlock #-series locks are sheer pin locks. That is, in order to set the pins, you literally insert the key you want it keyed to, and sheer the pins off to the lengths that match the cuts in the key. This makes them really easy to pick already, I've gotten into one with a small paperclip, so I wouldn't even recommend them for minor things like keeping the kids out of your wifes box of dildos. They can be convenient only in a situation where you need lots of them fast (I had it down to ~20 seconds per lock).
As mentioned in the article, American Padlock (owned by MasterLock), Abus (I really like these personally), or even Guard brand padlocks are a safer bet.
The American and Abus padlocks can have the cylinder removed and recoded easily (as long as you have a key), saving you from buying a whole new lock if you simply want to keep one keyholder out for whatever reason.
it would be super sweet of you to steam your neighbor's power tools, and I bet they would look super clean afterwards, but why would you bother? maybe you're just a good neighbor?
You do realize that the saying "keeping honest people honest" is a common idiom, I didn't invent it.
This idiom is contradictory on it's face but it illustrates a truth about people and the human condition, nobody is perfect. You can obtain a large amount of compliance by placing even token limits on behavior. It's why we paint lines on roads, put locks on doors, label doors "Entry Only" (when by law they must function as an exit) and put DNS filters on company networks to keep NSFW surfing down. We encourage generally honest people to stay on the straight and narrow by offering even token amounts of effort to step over into "dishonest" behavior. None of my examples are any more than tokens and all are easily circumvented with little effort and serve to encourage imperfect people to do the right things because most of us actually have a conscience that we listen to and it screams loudly when it take effort to do wrong.
So, really, NOBODY is totally honest, but keeping the majority of people from being dishonest doesn't usually take much.... Which if you think about the idiom, is a clever illustration of the concept, even if it has logical consistency issues because none of us are perfect..
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
i once had a bum sadly asking me for a snickers bar he saw in my car because he thought i looked too nice to have a car broken into. i didn't know whether to appreciate the sentiment or be alarmed. i just stood there confused.
i guess that's an example of a barrier that kept an honest person honest... to this day, i'm still confused about that encounter.
i once had a bum sadly asking me for a snickers bar he saw in my car because he thought i looked too nice to have a car broken into. i didn't know whether to appreciate the sentiment or be alarmed. i just stood there confused.
i guess that's an example of a barrier that kept an honest person honest... to this day, i'm still confused about that encounter.
You have left us in complete suspense. Did you give him the Snickers bar?
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.