Lock Opened With Ball Point Pen

Posting from Google, so I'm a few hours behind, forgive me if this has
already been posted.

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

Scary.

wrote:

Posting from Google, so I'm a few hours behind, forgive me if this has
already been posted.

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with either
one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither of which
fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a difference. I *have*
managed to pick cheap padlocks before, using a screwdriver and paper clip.

--
Benjamin Lewis

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of
oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate
commerce. -- J. Edgar Hoover

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with either
one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither of which
fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

Jamming the pen barrel in hard enough causes it to flare and fit.
After that it's just twist and jiggle.
It took less than fifteen seconds the third time. Sad.

I've not yet gotten it to work on the Bikeguard5 sold by Norco though
I predict that I will before day's end. I don't have a key for it
anyway.

I was thinking of the havoc one could cause at a bike rack by just
switching around peoples' locks.
--
zk

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:38:08 -0700, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with either
one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither of which
fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

Jamming the pen barrel in hard enough causes it to flare and fit.
After that it's just twist and jiggle.
It took less than fifteen seconds the third time. Sad.

Wow, I was about to conclude this was a fake, or something.

I've not yet gotten it to work on the Bikeguard5 sold by Norco though
I predict that I will before day's end. I don't have a key for it
anyway.

What do you think the 'mechanism' is that is allowing it to work. You think
it's fitting over the post part and covering the indents, thus letting it
slide off?

I was thinking of the havoc one could cause at a bike rack by just
switching around peoples' locks.

Are you sure you're not a young whippersnapper? ;-p

-B

Zoot Katz wrote:

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with either
one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither of which
fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

That's one of the locks I tried. So either I wasn't persistent enough, my
pen wasn't suitable, or I'm just no dang good at it.

--
Benjamin Lewis

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of
oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate
commerce. -- J. Edgar Hoover

Zoot Katz wrote:

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with either
one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither of which
fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

That's one of the locks I tried. So either I wasn't persistent enough, my
pen wasn't suitable, or I'm just no dang good at it.

--
Benjamin Lewis

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of
oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate
commerce. -- J. Edgar Hoover

Badger South wrote:

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:38:08 -0700, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with
either one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither
of which fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a
difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

Jamming the pen barrel in hard enough causes it to flare and fit.
After that it's just twist and jiggle.
It took less than fifteen seconds the third time. Sad.

Wow, I was about to conclude this was a fake, or something.

I've not yet gotten it to work on the Bikeguard5 sold by Norco though
I predict that I will before day's end. I don't have a key for it
anyway.

What do you think the 'mechanism' is that is allowing it to work. You
think it's fitting over the post part and covering the indents, thus
letting it slide off?

I think it's the same principle as picking a regular lock: torque is
applied to the barrel, and if the pins are jiggled back and forth,
whichever one is bearing most of the force will snap into place, allowing
the barrel to turn slightly more. If you continue in this manner,
eventually all the pins will fall into the correct positions and the lock
will open. This approach can be defeated by devices such as
mushroom-shaped pins (in a regular lock), which will fall into the wrong
positions.

--
Benjamin Lewis

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of
oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate
commerce. -- J. Edgar Hoover

Badger South wrote:

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:38:08 -0700, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 10:36:16 -0700, ,
Benjamin Lewis wrote:

There is a video clip posted at www.bikeforums.net showing a
Kryptonite U-lock being opened with a cheap pen.

For what it's worth, I tried this at home with two different U-locks
(neither one Kryptonite brands), and couldn't get it to work with
either one. Both of these locks take different diameter keys, neither
of which fit any of my pens very well, so this may have made a
difference.

That's not to say a different diameter plastic tube won't work.

I too found it hard to believe, however with a bit of persistence, I
managed to open the NYC U-Lock sold by MEC.

Jamming the pen barrel in hard enough causes it to flare and fit.
After that it's just twist and jiggle.
It took less than fifteen seconds the third time. Sad.

Wow, I was about to conclude this was a fake, or something.

I've not yet gotten it to work on the Bikeguard5 sold by Norco though
I predict that I will before day's end. I don't have a key for it
anyway.

What do you think the 'mechanism' is that is allowing it to work. You
think it's fitting over the post part and covering the indents, thus
letting it slide off?

I think it's the same principle as picking a regular lock: torque is
applied to the barrel, and if the pins are jiggled back and forth,
whichever one is bearing most of the force will snap into place, allowing
the barrel to turn slightly more. If you continue in this manner,
eventually all the pins will fall into the correct positions and the lock
will open. This approach can be defeated by devices such as
mushroom-shaped pins (in a regular lock), which will fall into the wrong
positions.

--
Benjamin Lewis

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of
oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate
commerce. -- J. Edgar Hoover

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 14:49:49 -0400,
,
Badger_South wrote, in part:


What do you think the 'mechanism' is that is allowing it to work. You think
it's fitting over the post part and covering the indents, thus letting it
slide off?

There is a post (#332), in the bikeforums.com thread that Jym linked,
explaining how it works.

"The lock works by having a series of pins arranged in a circle
parallel to one another. Each pin has a spring behind it, and a notch
cut at some height into it. The key works by depressing each pin
exactly the right amount so that the notches line up with the collar
that is preventing the lock core from turning.

Now, why the pen works: it's the plastic and the springs. The plastic
is obviously hard enough to push against the springs, but soft enough
to deform under their pressure. Either the pins bottom out in the open
position (in which case it's just a matter of mashing the pen in hard
enough to bottom the deepest pin, and it gets mangled as the others
bottom out), or that's why the wigglin' and shakin' (you're vibrating
the pins into position, and the pen then holds them there). So, in
addition to different diameters not working, something made of a hard
plastic (like the hex-crosssection Papermate pens) probably won't
work. And something really soft (like silly putty) shouldn't work,
either."

There are also numerous posts and videos confirming the findings on
various different locks having cylindrical keys. Apparently his hack
has been known since at least 1992.

I was thinking of the havoc one could cause at a bike rack by just
switching around peoples' locks.

Are you sure you're not a young whippersnapper? ;-p

I'm of the old-school prankster order.
--
zk

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 14:49:49 -0400,
,
Badger_South wrote, in part:


What do you think the 'mechanism' is that is allowing it to work. You think
it's fitting over the post part and covering the indents, thus letting it
slide off?

There is a post (#332), in the bikeforums.com thread that Jym linked,
explaining how it works.

"The lock works by having a series of pins arranged in a circle
parallel to one another. Each pin has a spring behind it, and a notch
cut at some height into it. The key works by depressing each pin
exactly the right amount so that the notches line up with the collar
that is preventing the lock core from turning.

Now, why the pen works: it's the plastic and the springs. The plastic
is obviously hard enough to push against the springs, but soft enough
to deform under their pressure. Either the pins bottom out in the open
position (in which case it's just a matter of mashing the pen in hard
enough to bottom the deepest pin, and it gets mangled as the others
bottom out), or that's why the wigglin' and shakin' (you're vibrating
the pins into position, and the pen then holds them there). So, in
addition to different diameters not working, something made of a hard
plastic (like the hex-crosssection Papermate pens) probably won't
work. And something really soft (like silly putty) shouldn't work,
either."

There are also numerous posts and videos confirming the findings on
various different locks having cylindrical keys. Apparently his hack
has been known since at least 1992.

I was thinking of the havoc one could cause at a bike rack by just
switching around peoples' locks.

Are you sure you're not a young whippersnapper? ;-p

I'm of the old-school prankster order.
--
zk