Originally posted by: klaxon
Good thing I got a chain keylock.
STOP THE MADNESS!
newsflash: all locks can be picked. locks are not magic, they are mechanic.
some kryptonites can be picked with a Bic pen body. i tried it on my locks, it didn't work - looking at the cuts on my keys, i didn't expect it to work. course, i don't chew pens so the end of my bic pen body is nice and flat - no way it is going to get the pins in the lock to line up and let the cylinder turn.
MANY PEOPLE report that the bic pen thing DOES NOT WORK on their lock. far fewer people report that it does.
picking locks is a skill that few people perform - low risk exposure. the lock still provides the same amount of risk mitigation, but because of this `news' item, risk exposure has gone up. i am not worried - i don't solely rely on a lock to mitigate risk of theft.
Just because you don't know how to do it, doesn't mean it that it does not work. IT DOES WORK. PERIOD!
This is a vulnerability in ALL (read again: ALL) cylinder lock designs. I know quite a bit about how locks work because my father was a locksmith. In fact, this vulnerability was actually published in a British magazine back in 1992. That's right, 12 ago.
Why does this work? Cylinder locks work on the principle that all the pins needs to pressed a certain amount to unlock it. When the Bic pen pushes down and you wiggle/twist it, it actually will push the pins down an number of "random" times with "random" pressure. In theory, this would not allow the bike lock to be picked, but if any of you know anything about locks and lockpicking, you would know that the pins are all imperfect. Therefore you can catch one or two if the pins in "unlocking" position called the sheer line. Once that happens, by putting force on the pins and twisting the shaft, you can keep those pins in the sheer line while forcing the other pins. This principle works for picking all mechanical locks except the pins in the normal lock is inside a very small chamber. The cylinder bike lock pins are exposed, and that is why these cylinder bike locks are so easy to pick.
Some locks are just a little harder to pick than others because of the random sheer line of the pins that are made during manufacturing. If the pins are more "alike" to each other, they are easier to pick.
There are number of other way to pick these kinds of locks. I was shown actually about how to open these locks from my retired father, not with a Bic, but with a drinking straw (the thick slurpee kind). This vulnerability is not specific to Kryponite locks, it is for every kind of cylinder lock. (Even those old AT computer keyboard locks.) And it has been known to locksmiths (and probably theives) for many years, it is just a big deal now because someone did a video to show how darn easy it is. Also, you show know that Krypontine (a company in China) does not actually make this locking mechanism, they buy it from another manufacturer, an American one (whose name slips my mind).
Anyone who tells you that this trick doesn't work simply knows nothing about locks and how they work. And his probably doing it work (try another pen). Although we should be thankful that people like, klaxon exist, because if everyone could pick this lock with ease... well you know.
PS: There one brand of bike locks that uses "variable resistance" springs in their pins. That one is much harder to pick, and it is probably "Bic proof". Also know that once you pick a lock, if you do it without enough finesse, it become a bitch to set all the pins right so that it can be used again. Because you are basically forcing some of the pins to warp into the sheer line. This is how you can detect if a door has been picked.