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A Robot At DEFCON Cracked A Safe Within 30 Minutes (bbc.com)
schwit1 shared an article from the BBC:
Using a cheap robot, a team of hackers has cracked open a leading-brand combination safe, live on stage in Las Vegas. The team from SparkFun Electronics was able to open a SentrySafe safe in around 30 minutes... After the robot discovered the combination was 51.36.93, the safe popped open -- to rapturous applause from the audience of several hundred... The robot, which cost around $200 to put together, makes use of 3D-printed parts that can be easily replaced to fit different brands of combination safe. It cannot crack a digital lock -- although vulnerabilities in those systems have been exposed by other hacking teams in the past.
Though the safe had a million possible combinations using three two-digit numbers, the last number had slightly larger indents on the dial -- reducing the possible combinations to just 10,000. And in addition, "the team also discovered that the safe's design allows for a margin of error to compensate for humans getting their combination slightly wrong" -- which meant that the robot only had to check every third number. "Using this method, they could cut down the number of possible combinations to around 1,000."
"Some SentrySafe models come with an additional lock and key, but the team was able to unlock it by using a Bic pen."
Though the safe had a million possible combinations using three two-digit numbers, the last number had slightly larger indents on the dial -- reducing the possible combinations to just 10,000. And in addition, "the team also discovered that the safe's design allows for a margin of error to compensate for humans getting their combination slightly wrong" -- which meant that the robot only had to check every third number. "Using this method, they could cut down the number of possible combinations to around 1,000."
"Some SentrySafe models come with an additional lock and key, but the team was able to unlock it by using a Bic pen."
They're an interesting read for anyone who doesn't want to be an idiot, really.
even if you figured out some of the stuff yourself, reading surely you're joking gives you at least some hope in humanity and in that, no, people aren't that different despite few decades of time passing - but you don't have to let it get to you too much.
aaaanyways also this is kinda why proper safes have delay locks.. with a home safe I would be more interested in if it keeps the stuff safe in an event of fire or whatever(the reason for the name "safe" vs. a lockbox).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
This. The German rank and file police I worked with had the equivalent of a Master's degree in criminal justice. The English police had a year of training for unarmed combat.
US police might get a few hours, but the majority of their training is at the range, so they do what they are trained to do in a heated situation; draw, aim for center of mass and empty the magazine on their duty weapon, and then fill out the paperwork while out on paid leave. That is just how the US police system works. The officers are good people, and few are truly bloodthirsty, but their training is essentially limited to gun battles, with not much left over for situations that don't require deadly force 24/7.
If you gave US police officers similar training as European, Japanese, or even Canadian officers, things would be completely different.
There are two types of safes. Fire safes and security safes. There may be safes that combine both sets of features but they aren't sold at everyday retailers. A fire safe is typically made up of insulating material and you could probably cut through it pretty easily. A security safe tends to be made of high-strength materials. As a DIY measure, I guess you could put a security safe inside of a fire safe! I wouldn't do the other way around as the fire might prevent the security safe from opening.
This. I work for the Seattle city government, and we demand a less than four hour response to all break-ins. We are trying very hard.
That's pretty pathetic. To be useful it needs to be a lot closer to 15 minutes. Otherwise, they're never going to catch anyone or save any lives. At 1+ hours, all they're doing is playing secretary as they write a report.
If you can't protect your citizens better than that, you should be encouraging gun ownership and self defense/home security type training for citizens.
In Tampa, FL I've had to call the police 2 or 3 times in the past decade. They've always come very quickly, I don't have actual times but I'm thinking close to 15 minutes for sure.
I just can't get over it. You're proud of a 4 hour response time? That's really bad.