Stewart Stremler wrote:
begin quoting Ralph Shumaker as of Tue, Mar 21, 2006 at 04:20:13PM -0800:
Stewart Stremler wrote:
[snip]
I'm not sure you *can* have a (physically) keyed lock that's "unpickable".
Well, if I remember correctly, there is a $10K reward offered by Medeco
if you can pick open one of their locks for them. I heard that only one
guy did it and was hired on the spot to make it even better. I doubt
there has been any shortage of others who tried. Schlage Primus is one
that is close to pick proof as well as a few from Assa and others.
Oh, I'm not saying that they aren't _good_.
And the company trusts that the lock is good up to $10k. So if you have
have stuff to store that's worth[1] less than $10k, that sort of lock would
be *great*.
That $10k is not insurance. It is offerred only as incentive to entice
someone to try to show them how to defeat their lock without destroying it.
I am a locksmith and understand how it works. Understanding how a lock
works is an important part in figuring out how to defeat it. But every
locksmith I know who understands how the Medeco works knows this: The
only feasable way of defeating a Medeco is by destroying it. If a
person must leave the lock intact (maybe to obscure his security
breach), then destroying it is not an option.
There are other ways to defeat a lock without picking. But none of them
work on a Medeco. Destroying it is the only way to defeat it. (This is
according to all the locksmiths I know. And in regard to defeating
locks, there is very little (if anything) known by thieves that is not
known by experienced locksmiths.)
You're welcome to try to cash in on the reward if you think you can do
it. You can buy a Medeco deadbolt for your door from around $100 (if
you're lucky) to about $900 each. Buy one and practice on it.
Oh, I'm not skilled enough to even try. And it probably isn't worth
the time-investment to go after the prize anyway... for those inclined
that way, it's probably a skill you would NOT want to advertise.
True. But as I stated above, there is little (if anything) known (about
defeating locks) by thieves that is not known by locksmiths. And I
guarantee you that if there is a locksmith who knows how to defeat a
Medeco without destroying it, he *will* cash in on that reward. (I'm
assuming that all locksmiths are honest and reputable.)
[1] worth is a funny thing. There's the assessed value, the purchase
value, the replacement value, the fence value... but while the fence
value is most likely much less than the others, a thief that can pick
such a lock won't have to do it all in one go. You can't make a living
picking a lock for prizes, but you can make a living picking a lock for
the contents protected by it. In theory.
Knowing what I know about the Medeco lock, this sounds more like a
conspiracy theory built up on nothing more than fear and lack of
knowledge about the facts that say it's not possible.
The Medeco lock /may/ have a vulnerability since most things do. But
short of its destruction, I am currently unaware of *any* way to defeat
it. In (very) limited settings, there are ways around it, but none
through it.
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