Kensington Laptop Locks Not So Secure 526
eric434 writes "According to a security alert released by Security.Org, the Kensington laptop lock that many of us use and love isn't secure. In fact, it can be opened in 30 seconds after about a minute of practice with a $1 worth of equipment. (A Bic pen, and a pair of scissors. In the interest of giving people some time to stop using the locks, the actual method of opening the lock is left up to the reader.)
To make matters worse, Kensington's 'We'll give you $1500 if someone steals your laptop' guarantee doesn't apply -- because the process of opening the lock doesn't damage the lock or cable." Mind the source, though -- security.org wouldn't mind selling you a book on locks and safes.
Take the cable if you take my laptop... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Take the cable if you take my laptop... (Score:5, Funny)
Modern thieves are picky, they only nick good products that have resale value. Kensington locks are, well, kindly left to you...
Re:Take the cable if you take my laptop... (Score:5, Funny)
How to make the warranty work for you (Score:5, Funny)
After your lock has been cleanly picked, go to your local Home Depot, get a cable cutter and cut the cable yourself. Make sure you make a real mess of it. Then send back to Kensington and claim the $1500.
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:5, Insightful)
Who said anything about perjury? Your laptop got stolen, didn't it? So go report that your laptop got stolen. Refer my previous post - the coppers couldn't give a flying fire-truck *how* your laptop got stolen, they won't ask, and they *REALLY* don't want to hear about it (they already heard the same story a dozen times today from folks who just *needed* to tell *someone* and assumed that cops cared). Be a good citizen, give the cops the info they need for their statistics, and be on your way. It's easier for everyone that way.
'course if your laptop *didn't* get stolen and you're reporting that it did - well that's a whole different kettle of fish.
just playing devils advocate (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Insightful)
In general, the prices offered by major wireless carriers are meaningless. If you want to know what a cell phone is worth, try buying a new, unlocked (use on any carrier, thus not subsidized) phone of recent vintage from an independant shop - you won't find much for $50
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Insightful)
The magic reference number (which is what they hand out in the state of New South Wales (where Sydney is) Australia) is all you need to satisfy the insurance claim. You get extra bonus points if you know the copper's name and can write that on the form too, but it's not required.
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Funny)
Re:lying to police is a bad idea. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:4, Insightful)
You're showing definite signs of having watched too much American television my boy! In real life, they only screw about with the DNA analysis and fingerprints if (a) someone got killed and (b) the press are hassling a suitably highly placed politician over it. In the rest of real life, no-one has the funds or the time to fingerprint everything, and the cops certainly aren't going to bother investigating a stolen laptop.
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:4, Interesting)
Whether they'll actually catch anyone or not is another question, of course, but at least they try.
It really depends on the crime and the situation I suspect, but they definitely won't do DNA for something that size though.
However, you also have to consider that the private insurance company MIGHT decide to "investigate" on their own -- 99.99999% of the time they won't, but every once in a while some insurance companies will send someone out (even though it probably costs more then the claim) to investigate, just to look like they're doing due diligence and to discourage fraud. (Or so says a friend of mine who works in the insurance industry -- Take it with a grain of salt)
Pedant heal thyself (Score:3, Insightful)
Main Entry: product
Pronunciation: 'prä-"d&kt
Function: noun
1 : the result of work or thought
2 a : the output of an industry or firm b : a thing created by manufacturing
3 in the civil law of Louisiana : something (as timber or a mineral) that is derived from something else and that diminishes the substance of the thing from which it is derived --compare FRUIT 2a
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
dictiona
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3, Interesting)
40GB drive, 2.2GHz P4, ATI Radeon 9000 (independant video memory), CDRW+DVD, and 4-6 hours of battery life with the display dimmed, 802.11B.
It's not exactly brand new anymore (so don't bother showing where you could get a better one for less today), it was priced competitively when I bought it. In fairness the $4000 price includes the docking station, additional battery, an additional charger and a carryi
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3)
That isn't all that "sweet" and is worth nowhere near 4 grand today or even when you bought it.
Re:How to make the warranty work for you (Score:3)
That's a horrible "warranty" .... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you use this Kensington lock and your laptop gets jacked, use a pair of bolt cutters and damage your cable before filing your claim.
Re:That's a horrible "warranty" .... (Score:5, Insightful)
If your laptop, bike, etc ever gets stolen and you try to claim the compensation money from the lock manufacturer, you will find that there are many restrictions on actually getting that money. That is because, as with any other insurance scheme, many unscrupulous people try to get the compensation money by dishonest means. So some genuine theft victims will be deprived of their deserved compensation, whereas other scammers might get away with the money. By and large, though, the majority of consumers are justly rewarded.
Re:That's a horrible "warranty" .... (Score:3, Funny)
Here on the interweb we like our statistics with links, thanks. And this [my-ass.com] doesn't count.
1500 dollers (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:1500 dollers (Score:5, Interesting)
Australian Defence Force laptops (all thinkpads, that I've seen) have this. Try to break in and various parts of the laptop burst into flame.
See how easy it is getting data off a hard drive that's protected by a lithium/oxygen lock.
Re:1500 dollers (Score:3, Interesting)
To prevent nontargeted theft, make your PC very distinctive. This reduces the "fencing" price significantly. If they obviously can't sell it to a fence they won't even bother touching it. Get/Pay an artist to make it permanently distinctive AND look nice at the same time.
But if you really want to teach the thief a lesson, try semtex and a pager. You may wish to make sure it only blows up on a particular pager message and not because of a wrong number
Fake Battery Pack? (Score:3, Funny)
How about a fake battery pack which is actually a couple of pounds of high-explosive?
Of course, it carries a risk to the legitimate user who forgets that the fake pack is connected...
Wire Cutters (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wire Cutters (Score:5, Insightful)
However, I'm sure there are tools for this job available at your local Home Depot or other hardware emporium. Just remember to make the cut nice and messy.
Re:Wire Cutters (Score:5, Interesting)
The particular wire they use is a strandad high tensile strength steel. The individual strands are probably 12-16 guage, the cable as a whole cladding included might be 4 guage.
To cut 16 guage half-soft steel wire takes a medium sized pair of bolt cutters and a lot of elbow grease. You could PROBABLY worry the cable through with those, but because you can't close the jaws on each individual strand, it's going to be more of a sawing motion.
To get through that cable you'll need a pair of bolt cutters whose jaws are large enough that the entire cable fits between them with no more than a 15-20 degree angle. And the leverage is going to be immense; 2-3 feet at least.
Not exactly a tool you could fit in your pocket
Re:Wire Cutters (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, bolt cutters aren't very good at cutting cables. What you need are cable cutters, which have more of a hooked scissors or shears type of head. The head of a cable cutter resembles the beak of a predator bird, actually; probably for a good reason.
Bolt cutters are designed to cut a single solid piece of metal, so they are not effective at cutting the many strands of a cable. The cable kinda squashes and the individual strands are too flexible for a bolt cutter.
Bolt cutters will work, eventually, but the right tool for the job is a cable cutter.
Re:Cordless Dremel? (Score:5, Funny)
Man, I don't know where you come from, but ten seconds? You must have either really blunt knives in your town, or titanium spiked butter or something, but damn!
No, dumbass (Score:5, Informative)
The point of the Kensington lock is not so much to secure the laptop to something as to ruin the resale value of it by virtue of the damage likely to occur to the laptop if the lock is forcibly removed.
This hack apparently allows the lock cylinder itself to be cleanly removed, rendering the lock useless and giving the thief a laptop to sell that doesn't scream out "Look at this torn-off case plastic! I was stolen!"
have to email author for details of the exploit (Score:5, Informative)
Extract from article:
You may contact the author for further details as to the method of entry. All computer owners and administrators should be aware of the potential for theft if you utilize this device. The full details of how to compromise this device are contained in LSS+ Version 5.0 Multimedia edition of Locks, Safes, and Security. Kensington may be contacted for further information at 800-535-4242. The company was notified of the problem by the author on July 13, 2004 and has refused to comment on or acknowledge the problem, or to return any telephone calls or e-mails. The author believes that the manufacturer can remedy the problem and should be required to do so. All purchasers of this device may wish to request a replacement from the manufacturer that prevents this form of bypass.
Here's how (Score:5, Informative)
Anyhoo: what you need is a pair of scissors and a paperclip. if you have no scissors, a second paperclip will work, if not so well.
Jam one point of the scissors into the rectangular hole on the circumference of the circular key slot. Twist the scissors so that the inner part of the lock turns into the 'open' direction. Keep applying a gentle pressure, and use the paperclip to push in the little pins in the circular groove, one by one. Push down lightly and slowly until you feel the pin 'snap'. If you release the pin, it should be held in place and not spring back up again. If it does, just try first with another pin. Eventually you'll get them all and the lock will turn open. You can close the lock again in the same way.
Some of these locks have a security feature... when you've twisted the cilinder halfway to the 'open' position, it will lock again. In this case you'll need both points of the scissor to apply torque to the lock cilinder.
This isn't hard... with some practice, you can open these locks in a minute or 2. We used to do this at the office, going around during luch break to swap everyone's Kensington locks around, then watch the frustration at the end of the day, as everyone discovered that their key did not fit anymore. I know, it's lame, but we were bored okay?
I don't have any qualms about revealing the 'secret' of Kensington lock picking, as I would have with revealing a hot new exploit. This trick is years old, and asa I said: any bored person with a paper clip can figure this out for himself.
Re:Here's how (Score:4, Funny)
That just sounds like normal lock-picking to me. Here is an article [howstuffworks.com] on the technique that is describing pretty much the same thing on a more traditional yale-style key.
Great. I've just taught serveral thousand geeks how to lock-pick... ;-)
Hits me right where I live... (Score:5, Funny)
What if my laptop isn't worth the 1500 ... (Score:5, Funny)
This is old news... (Score:5, Funny)
And *he* didn't need the scissors.
---anactofgod---
To Take Advantage Of This Flaw... (Score:3, Funny)
Hmm..... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Hmm..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Plus, if you use pliers to open a lock like this, it will be visible, giving away the fact that there has been unauthorized access. A similar idea I've heard of is gluing a hard-drive cable to the motherboard and hd. You could get it off and access the data, but you can't do it without being noticed.
I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Insightful)
Back in 2000 I had one of those Kensington motion sensing laptop locks which gave off this ear-piercing noise if anyone moved the device.
Thing was so insecure that I was playing with it in the airport on a business trip one day and I realized all I had to do was to push the pin inwards and it immediately came off.
Sure, the alam went off too, but it still wouldn't have stopped someone from jetting away and stealing the bag or laptop.
Now, I secure both my laptops (work and personal) the old fashioned way. I never let them leave my sight or I lock them in a locker or the trunk of my car.
Physical controls can't beat plain common sense sometimes when it comes to the security of your personal belongings.
Neer leave a laptop bag in the front-seat or rear-seat of your car iwhere it's in plain sight. That's just begging for someone to smash your window and steal it.
Also, don't carry your laptop around in one of those $200 leather laptop cases. I use a backpack. Sure, it was designed for a laptop but it doesn't look like it was. Maybe I have gym shoes and a change of clothes in there, or maybe I have an iBook, iPod, spare battery, Tréo 600, Passport, etc.
Then again, maybe I don't.
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Interesting)
It was a very cold and noisy drive home and cost a few hundred bucks to fix though
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Interesting)
I had one of these and they're a waste of $70.
Here's another good one: pick the thing up very very slowly, so it doesn't start screaming, lift it about 10" off the table, then slam it flat on the table, battery down, as hard as you can. The motion sensor will be busted right out and the thing won't peep a sound. If, by some misfortune, it does start beeping, press your thumb real hard against the hole underneath, where the piezo is, to silence it.
These things are crap, honestly. Stay away from it...
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Interesting)
In the least sensitive setting you had to tilt it 45 degrees before it would go off.
In the middle it wasn't too bad, but it was still tilt sensitive -- I lifted it straight up, unscrewed the battery case, removed the batteries (to expose the unit's screws), then unscrewed it and reset it to a known code after a friend of mine decided to change it on me.
I could have just smashed it I guess, but that wouldn't have
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Informative)
Amen to that. I made the mistake of using a laptop bag to carry around my school books for a while. Left it in my backseat overnight and got my window busted out. Yeah, they didnt get away with a laptop, but I
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't try the trunk of your car in Chicago, even in the good neighborhoods. I've had windows broken and trunks entered for a duffel bag with a schoolhouse rock video tape. I've had trunks punched open with a screwdriver for some books. I once caught two kids in my car trying to pry an $18 tape player from under the dash. Hell, I once even left my car -- with nothing in it to steal, AND THE WINDOWS ALL HALFWAY DOWN -- and someone still punched a hold through the door skin to open the *unlocked* door with the *open* window.
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Funny)
Especially if you drive a beater that looks like it couldn't possibly have anything valuable in it, and leave it in a good neighborhood with lots of Jettas and SUVs and expensive crap. (coughLincolnParkcough).
On the other hand, I've sat with the owners and watched their 300k mile, damn near dead, Chevy Nova ge
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Funny)
After having his car stereo stolen, he replaced it and jammed razor blades around the stereo.
It was, of course stolen...and blood was smeared all over the interior...and all the windows were smashed by the pissed off thief...and the tires were slashed...and a good sized dent for good measure.
Don't do this.
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:5, Interesting)
You shouldn't try cutting 1.5KV cables with a pocketknife when the supply is still on.
It's not as bad in my car. The Hybrid battery is only 264 volts nominal and the 1KW inverter is 120 volts. I don't recommend messing with either while the power is on. The inverter is on most of the time. I plug the computer into it to charge batteries while on the road. I seldom bother to shut it off since its nominal unloaded draw is just a few mA.
Re:I can attest to this fact. (Score:3, Interesting)
Um, no. I have several clocking circuits running. One inverts the low voltage into high voltage (not a lossless circuit) and another drives the output bridge for 60 HZ AC (driving transistrors still requires power) and the regulation and protection circuits are active. The noise suppression absorbs some power and the LED draws some power.
No short here.
Who could be doing this?? (Score:4, Funny)
Damn you MacGyver!!
I'm curious... (Score:3, Interesting)
Funny lock story from Australia (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sure you are all familiar with steering wheel locks, the most well known in Australia is called a Club Lock.
A magazine called "Choice", which reviews and tests products, reviewed all available steering wheel locks and claimed that the Club Lock could be defeated in less than 30 seconds by someone with no experience at car theft.
The manufacturer responded by modifying and improving the lock mechanism, but the magazine repeated their claim that it could be defeated easily.
This went on for about 4 generations of Club Lock and saw the introduction of a "star shaped" key to making picking the locks "impossible", as well as other developments. But Choice maintained that the Club Lock had not been fixed and anyone could defeat it in under a minute.
A local TV current affairs show filmed a carpark showdown between the manufacturer of the Club Lock and a reporter from the magazine, as the manufacturer prepared to release their latest model and the magazine claimed it would be able to defeat it in less than 30 seconds.
They were screaming at each other in a car park and honestly looked like they were going to hit each other. The manufacturer claimed (in near hysteria) that it was impossible for someone to pick their locks, and that the magazines claims were wrong. The magazine denied this, and so were challenged to demonstrate their claim on TV.
A brand new model Club Lock was placed on a car steering wheel.
The magazine reporter got in the car, grabbed it, and gave it a good hard yank, and it came off easily.
The manufacturer went very very quiet.
The funny thing about this - and the reason I remember it - was that the people who made Club Locks never asked the magazine HOW they'd been defeating their product. They all assumed that the locks had been picked. Practically all the improvements they made to the product over 4 years were in improving the lock mechanism. They never expected that the piece of metal which hooks around the steering wheel was so weak it could be easily bent. They shouldv'e thought laterally.
Anyway it was very funny. Trust me, I still remember it and it was about 15 years ago.
Re:Funny lock story from Australia (Score:5, Informative)
If a crook wants past your club, they can just cut through the steering wheel and remove the club.
I've seen a different sort of club-type device on TV that hooks around the brake pedal. Looks like a better product to use anyway.
Re:Funny lock story from Australia (Score:3, Funny)
Because... metal is the strongest thing on earth, impervious to bending and cutting even in the smallest quantities?
Re:Funny lock story from Australia (Score:5, Insightful)
I drive a very common and not very valuable car (Ford Focus), and when I put my Club on I don't even bother to lock it. All I'm counting on is a thief noticing it and deciding he'd rather steal the Clubless car next to mine.
It's like the two guys running from the bear. I don't have to outrun the bear, just the other guy. With my car, I don't have to defeat the crook. I just have to be tougher than the car beside mine.
Re:Funny lock story from Australia (Score:5, Informative)
So what lock to buy (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So what lock to buy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So what lock to buy (Score:5, Funny)
All laptop locks suck! (Score:5, Insightful)
They keep honest people honest. They're speedbumps for the pros. Don't leave you leptop alone!
Reminds me of High School... (Score:3, Insightful)
Basically, there was a metal reciever that was screwed into a rubber/plastic pad that is epoxied to the hardware you want to keep. The cable is slipped through the reciever and then locked to a suitably heavy piece of cheap furniture, while the other end was to large to pass though the reciever However, since the unlocked end was not attached to anything, you simply slacked the cable, then passed the end under and around to unscrew the reciever from the epoxied pad.
It wouldn't have worked if it was riveted instead of screwed, but then again, it's a really a deterrent in the end.
Re:Reminds me of High School... (Score:3, Insightful)
Wewt! (Score:4, Informative)
DMCA to the rescue... (Score:5, Funny)
DMCA Precedence (Score:3, Informative)
Loosen up dude! It's funny... laugh.
I don't need a lock for my laptop... (Score:5, Funny)
Problem solved.
"Guarantees replacement" (Score:5, Interesting)
Guarantees replacement of any locked laptop that's stolen
Sounds pretty specific, huh? ANY locked laptop that's stolen... Which is quite different than what it says when you click the warranty link [kensington.com] on the page...
If theft of your laptop computer results from the Kensington Guaranteed Notebook Replacement MicroSaver computer lock being broken or opened by forceful means Kensington Technology Group will pay you the replacement value of your laptop up to US $1,500.00.
It goes on to say:
Kensington Technology Group will NOT be liable if the theft occurred because:
Now... that seems pretty vague to me. Are they talking specifically about the locking device? Or are they talking about the entire thing and calling it the Guaranteed Notebook Replacement MicroSaver Lock because that's the name of the product? Vague vague vague...
Re:"Guarantees replacement" (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"Guarantees replacement" (Score:4, Insightful)
Should read: All locks not so secure (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone who knows how to pick a lock can open most locks with 5 cents worth of equipment: a couple bent paperclips. Lets write a big story about how all these locks are weak.
So what? The lock is pickable; so are most other locks.
Unless the big story here is about the warrany. The fact they knew the lock is weak, so they worded the warranty in a way to avoid paying up.
Use the Bike Messenger warranty method (Score:3, Interesting)
Lock Picking (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Lock Picking (Score:5, Informative)
There is this wonderful site that has a great article about it: http://home.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm [howstuffworks.com]
And the cookie at the bottom of this page? (Score:5, Funny)
Locks are meant to scare away pro. thieves... (Score:5, Insightful)
What locks ARE good for, is deterring the casual thief. Someone who spots a notebook untattended in a library, a cafe, an office, sees that no one around... And grabs it. They're not likely to pick a lock or cut a cable. Since this is far, far more likely-- unless someone is really casing you for the info. on the computer-- it does make sense to use a lock.
i go by a different theory (Score:4, Interesting)
If I see an unguarded locked laptop, I dump a cup of coffee onto the keyboard.
Ok, not really.. but I wonder if anyone does this. I remember Denial of Service was a huge thing to do in highschool. People would beat the shit out of random combination locks on peoples lockers, you couldn't get your locker open. Bastards.
Clean take-away vs Vandalism? (Score:4, Insightful)
Better you just let the a-hole take it and get some some use out of it, I'd say.
On the other hand, if you are actually watching it (I mean, who locks a laptop and leaves it somewhere?) prolly nothing will happen to it.
This is analogous to the $500 damage someone does to your car to pull a stereo that has a $20 street value.
I am just rambling now... but what good is a laptop cable anyhow? Seems to me you have a couple of scenarios; A cable might work if you don't quite trust your roommate or his friends, I guess. Otherwise, forget it. You are in a "safe" environment, or not.
Bottom line, if you leave something valuable where folks might steal that something, it will get stolen, sooner or later.
I know, I've had much damage done to cars for little apparent gain for the thief. On the other hand I leave "tens of dollars" worth (but no more) of stuff on the sand when I am at the beach (add it up - towel(s), backpack, sunscreen...) with no ill results, so I am not totally paranoid, but not stupid either.
Re:Clean take-away vs Vandalism? (Score:3, Interesting)
I used to keep a flashlight in my glove box (needed it for my job). Then, one of the local crackheads coat-hangared his way into my car and stole it.
I replaced the flashlight and not too long after that it was stolen again. This happened three or four more times until I got fed up and locked the glove box. Bad move. Next morning, my dash board was busted up and the flash light gone.
I presume that the crackhead needed the ligh
Re:Clean take-away vs Vandalism? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you lock a laptop up tight enough but don't watch it, someone may just stuck a pencil thru your LCD to spite you. That's what I would do if I were in a pissy mood and unable to steal your laptop that I was otherwise planning on taking (which I wasn't, if you were wondering.)
Better you just let the a-hole take it and get some some use out of it, I'd say
I'd rather have a damaged laptop and get to keep my data.
Re:Clean take-away vs Vandalism? (Score:3, Insightful)
Replacing the LCD is a lot cheaper than having your business competitor scrolling through your 5-year business strategy, or some swarthy individual gloating over his newest acquisition from the Los Alamos on-campus diner.
At least have OpenOffice on it.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
No need for dremels or clippers (Score:4, Informative)
After all, it's not a really secure lock like a cylinder, the number of combinations of the impressions on the rim of a key is limited so I guess there are only a few different lock combinations. Anyone could buy a Kensington and get one with the same key as yours.
Re:No need for dremels or clippers (Score:3, Informative)
Running for karma (Score:4, Funny)
That would at least prevent male thieves from stealing the laptop.
Security Work-around for Kensington lock (Score:3, Funny)
This also serves as a work-around for many short term memeory disorders - answering once and for all the age old question of: crickey, where did I leave my laptop?
Next week we will tackle the problem of leaving valuable files in insecure filing cabinets. (hint: think backpack)
Why bother with a lock? (Score:4, Informative)
If you want to be reimbursed for your laptop if it is stolen, buy an insurance policy to cover it.
Yes, it might cost a bit more than a "good" lock, but not a lot more (my girlfriend insured her PowerBook for two years for $90), and you're guaranteed to get your laptop back if it is stolen. Or if it burns in a fire -- let's see your Kensington warranty cover that. Just make sure your policy gives you "replacement cost," not just "market value." And back up your friggin' data!
Seriously, why bother with a lock?
Re:Looking at picture of lock (Score:5, Funny)
You do realize that the DHS protects its laptops with Kensington locks, right? That means you just won free holidays in Cuba.
-- Signed: John A. <ashybaby@dhs.gov>
Re:Looking at picture of lock (Score:5, Insightful)
Correct.
That method actually works for any/all barrel-type locks, though the better quality ones (e.g. vending machines) will have tighter tolerances and stronger springs making them much more difficult.
Kensington just needs to spend a few more bucks on a higher quality mechanism (preferably with more than 5 pins!! Geez...)
Re:Looking at picture of lock (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Looking at picture of lock (Score:5, Informative)
The first is what you're implying, using common tools like a lockpick set.
The other, which may be more likely in this case is the way I "encourage" doors open when some fool locks themselves out.
I'd be willing to bet that this lock sets itself when you slide the end of the cable in. Kinda like a door latch. It slides over the angled bolt, and once it's over it is trapped til you use the key.
If the pen was a common white bic, and you removed the tip, ink, and back, you'd have a thin plastic white tube. If you used the scissors to cut the tube in half, even for just an inch or two, you'd halve a half-pipe roughly the size of the cable. Slide that down between the cable and the lock, and it would push the lock's bolt out of the way, and allow the cable to come free.
It's a little harder to do with a common home or office door, but can be done with a credit card.
This doesn't work for dead bolts (obviously). It also don't work on most padlocks, because the space is too small to slide something in.
Personally, I believe locks to be a tool to make people feel safe, and to keep 'honest' people honest.
A locked office in most office buildings can be accessed through the drop ceilings, or with the "assistance" of the janitorial staff.
A locked door on a house can be circumvented by going through a window, locked or not.
But, seeing a lock on a laptop, or a locked door on a room or building, makes a person think twice. The next one they find may be that much easier. Why go for the one with the Kensington lock that takes 30 seconds to steal, when you can just pick up the next guy's laptop bag with everything in it when he's not looking? You could tie your laptop off with a length of rope and be just as secure.
Kinda like 802.11b encryption. It's easy enough to crack, but most people will move on to the unencrypted network.
Re:I have one as a deterant (Score:3, Informative)
I also use the cable lock as the "Laptop Club" when I leave my laptop unattended in the lab. If someone really wanted the machine, all is needed is a cable cutter or hacksaw to cut the thing the cable was wound around. Or I'm sure one could rip the lock connecter off the socket if tried hard enough. Cable lock is good fo
Re:I have one as a deterant (Score:3, Funny)
Colons are used for structures such as lists, quotations, or supporting comments. You have used it to combine two sentances or two thoughts together. Your only "sentance" of that the paragraph is a run-on.
I have a problem with spelling. You have a problem with syntax. Now, get back to work boss. We don't close un
Re:Applies to barrel-key type locks, not combinati (Score:4, Interesting)
These days I get emails in my work when people forget the combination on their locks to come and remove them. It's really easy, and I think if everyone knew it would be barely worthwhile using them.