Poor quality locks for loss prevention

[digital_blue]

Funny thing happened today. I was visiting a friend of mine that manages a store for a national electronics retailer that I used to be a manager for. As is very common in retail electronics, he's been having a heck of a time with shoplifting, and has put a lot of attention to ensuring that valuable items out on display are secured down in some way. It so happens he just had a PC lifted yesterday, so the topic was 'top of mind' for him.

We had a little walk around his store looking at how various items were secured, and I was a little tickled to see that he had used quite a number of the Kensington Microsaver locks to secure very valuable items such as flat panel TV's, PC, etc. I quickly showed him how easily these could be bypassed. Quite an eye-opener for him, let me tell you! This was the first time I had actually attempted the paper key technique on one of these myself. I was a little shocked at just how easy it is to do. I know most of us have seen the video, but I'm always skeptical of what I see in a video. They tend to make it look easy. If it doesn't work the way you want, stop tape, rewind, and shoot again. Anyway, for those who haven't tried it... OMG! Once I had a chance to examine how the lock mechanism turned, it took only seconds.

Continuing on my tour I found that he had $900 flat panel TV tied down with a "Contractor's Grade" Master 4-wheel combination lock. Well, as you can well imagine, he was not very pleased to see me open that up in under 20 seconds.

This game continued around his store for a while. The bad news for him was that he now has to puchase some better security products. The good news is that his store is now quite a bit more secure. Oh yeah, and I ended up with a Master 4-wheel combination lock out of it.

The whole thing was fairly entertaining, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

db

[MrB]

I'm trying to visualize: how could someone walk out with a PC or a flat panel TV under their arm and not be noticed?

[zekeo]

On a similar topic: As I mentioned in a different thread, my university used expensive primus locks on their outside door. Yesterday they discovered that two 40" flat panel TVs were stolen. They can't even figure out whether it was tuesday or wednesday. There are no cameras and the building is unlocked almost all the time.

[digital_blue]

OMG, you have no idea how crafty these people are. I'm not talking about your average teen sliding a pair of headphones in his jacket. These are professional thieves. They are fast, and they are good. I have watched countless hours of security tape and have seen some truly creative methods of stealing.

BTW, when I started this thread, I had intended my post to be more about the ease of entry on that kensington, which is why I posted it in the Locks section. After reading over my post, as you might have noticed, it turned out to be more of a story about poor security which would have fit better in the General Chatter section. Sorry guys.

[omelet]

What did you use to bypass the master lock?

Also, what is this paper key method? I would like to see the video if you would please link me

[stick]

It's on zeke's ftp along with many other sites. Barry opens a Kensington laptop lock with cardboard from a toilet paper roll. The name of the file has Kensington in it, and it's a wmv file.

[digital_blue]

omelet: here's the link to the kensington video:
http://www.evilmerc.com/uploads/kensington_paper_key.wmv

And here's the link to my description on bypassing the 4 wheel combo lock. Scroll down to my post in the thread.

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=5659&highlight=wheel

Cheers!

db

[omelet]

thank you very much.

[omelet]

thank you very much.