Kryptonite U-Locks picked by BIC pens!!
 

No doubt youve already heard, (i did a forum search but turned out nothing) that Kryptonite bike locks can be picked by the hollow end of a BIC pen. I own one of these locks to secure my Specialized when I run out and do errands.. do you think Kryptonite will offer refunds/replacements for these now-obsolete expensive chunks of metal?

http://gadgets.engadget.com/entry/7796925370303347/
(watch the video)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...9689579.htm?1c

just goes to show that no matter how hard you try to protect something, sadly someone will figure out a way around it

Your mercurynews link requires registration. I would suggest that you either A) post the article or B) post a username/password. I find it pretty funny when things designed to provide security are defeat with highly unspecialized tools like a bic pen for example.

Very funny that these sentences are together... why not use BugMeNot to log in?

I've never heard of this! How awesome!! Thanks :D

Looks like they carved their key pattern into the end of the pen. Hardly what I would call defeating the lock. Just my opinion.

The pen is mighty!

The penis mightier?

You now, you could earn a lot of money selling these...

if the penis mightier really works ill order a dozen!
-sean connery- celebrity jeopardy snl

I do believe this eclipses the "black marker copy protection beater" for sony CD's.

I'll give you that, but it still doesn't beat "hold shift when inserting CD."

Give me a lock, a cart of office supplies, and I'll open it for you. Locks are really good for keeping honest people and dimwitted or unmotivated criminals out. I'd bet that I could teach at least a third of the average fifth grade class to pick a standard house lock with two hours of instruction time. I'll up that to half the class if it's a file cabinet lock. Most reasonably intelligent people can learn to bypass most security methods, many times without touching the lock itself (for example, the retina scanners at my school to get into the room secured by two plate glass doors.)

holy fing shit, that sucks if you were to own one of these, those are really expensive locks...

Slashdot comment

I'm thinking there might ought to be a special type of insurance for security companies that fail due to gross incompetence, causing people losses. Sort of like malpractice insurance.

Or maybe they should just higher more/better engineers and testers.

Ha! I just found this article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette!

Want to know something scary? The Bic trick applies to all circular locks. After reading about the trick I started to wonder if I had any circular locks. I quickly realized I had three: on my gun safes. I was able, without any prior 'bic' experience, to open my two spring-loaded hand safes in about 9 seconds. My floor safe took about a minute, but only because the force required while turning was quite a bit more.

I knew I wasn't purchasing Fort Knox when I bought them, but, 9 seconds?

So I'm of the understanding that certain states have laws concerning school shootings, wherein if a minor gains access to your gun and uses it to commit crimes, you're liable if found negligent in your efforts to secure your guns. In this case, doesn't the manufacturer have a duty to reimburse you for another form of security, lest they be aiding in your negligence in securing the weapons?

In this care I'm pretty sure I'm at fault since I know about the defect. ("Mr Browni, did you not in fact make an ass of yourself on tfproject.org by posting details of the defect?")

If I was not aware of the defect (then the manufacturer would probabally be at fault since their product has a gross defect.

Hmmm, I should get off my ass and contact the manufacturer.

Wow, that is one pathetic lock, and it'll cost you 50 to have your bike stolen faster!

thanks for that bugmenot software... great find...


i tried the bic pen method on my bike lock, its a specialized brand... the center piece was too big for the pen to go around... pushing as hard as i could i just couldnt quite get it...

so... i looked around for anyone who would care... and then tried the bike next to mine... and the one next to that one and the one next to that one... a couple of them were kryptonite brand U-locks... but all of them had a center piece that was too big for the bic pen...

i might do more research later... but so far it seems pretty limited to only a few locks... those with a certain keysize...

Same thing with my gun safes. I just shoved/twisted it in. The BIC expands enough to fit.

was it hard to make it expand? i'll have to go push on my lock more...

No, it wasn't very hard at all. I used the 'ink' portion of the pen, after removing the ink cartridge. I think the top section is more solid because of the glue holding the end cap on.

I shoved it in and twisted it around. The twisting seems to be what made the difference.

I remember being very proud of myself in elementary school, when I figured out how to crack open those chain locks with 4 or 5 number wheels on 'em. Remember? Like a little barrel & pin thing.
Anyway, this is a much bigger deal by far. I think they still make U-locks with a flat key, don't they? I guess that'll be the "new" standard, soon enough. Still defeatable I imagine, but not with a freakin' pen... or one would hope.