Another epic Medeco(r) "fail"
From Wired.com and the 2008 DefCon Conference in Las Vegas:LAS VEGAS -- Life takes Visa, says the credit card company's catchy and ubiquitous TV ads.
And now, according to a group of security researchers speaking at the DefCon hacker conference Friday in Las Vegas, Medeco high-security locks take Visa, too. As well as MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards.
To be more precise, the researchers say that plastic used in all of these credit cards can be easily fashioned into simulated keys that open three kinds of M3 high-security locks made by the Virginia-based Medeco Security Locks company -- locks that are used to secure sensitive facilities in places such as the White House, the Pentagon, embassies and other buildings...
There's more - Read the entire article here:
blog.wired.com/ (A new browser window will open)
Medeco® has not yet responded to this latest easy break of their "invulnerable" high security locks.
Once more folks, and I can't stress this enough, it's not the LOCKS you spend your children's college fund on, it's how your home is kept that keeps the criminals out. And why do I constantly harp on Medeco® when other lock makers are just as vulnerable to breaks, bumps, and hacks? Because none of the others make claims to being invulnerable to all breaks, or crow quite so loudly...
To repeat the points from the last Medeco® post:
The. Best. Possible. Way. of securing your home, regardless of the locks you have, or the locks you choose to buy, is to have your home well kept, well lighted, don't leave doors unlocked, keep the shrubbery trimmed away from doors and windows, leave your windows closed and locked, have the mail and the newspaper picked up if you're out of town, don't hand out keys to casual friends and neighbors, or contractors, or housekeepers, etc.
Bumping is still relatively rare... That being said however, those "security professionals" who sell you on hugely expensive locks on the premise that they're "bump proof"? Well, I suppose anyone can hang out a shingle, and it's good money, preying on fear... They also don't like to tell you that one of the best ways of advertising to criminals that you may have something extra good inside, is by having big, shiny Medeco® locks on your home.
Remember folks, you're still at far more risk of break-in by someone simply walking in through an unlocked door, an open window, or using that old stand by; a brick, than you are from bumping.
So why buy into the fear factor of needing the most expensive locks on the market?
70% or more of all burglaries are committed by force (kicking in doors, breaking windows), not stealth. Of the remaining percentage, the vast majority are windows/doors left unlocked, keys disseminated too widely, misplaced keys, not rekeying after a breach (lost key, fired employee, children handing out copies to friends, and more), etc. Bumping is in the negative 1% of that remainder.
Regardless:
~ Use a solid core or metal door for all entrance points, if this is not immediately possible, use quality, inside-only deadbolts in addition to the below.
~ Use a quality, heavy-duty, deadbolt lock, with a minimum one-inch throw.
~ Use a quality, heavy-duty, knob-in-lock set, with a dead-latch mechanism.
~ Use a heavy-duty, four-screw, strike plate with 3-inch screws, to penetrate fully & securely into a wooden door frame.
~ Use a wide-angle 160° peephole mounted no higher than 58 inches.
~ Have your existing locks rekeyed by a professional to utilize bump resistant techniques such as mushroom tumblers, etc.
On the exterior of your home, just a few hints:
~ Keep your shrubbery trimmed to BELOW the windows.
~ Have adequate lighting, motion lighting is one of the best deterrents there is.
~ Keep lights in your home on random cycling timers to make the home look occupied.
~ Don't allow mail or newspapers to accumulate in the drive.
~ KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS! Have them keep an eye out for your home, and you do the same for them.
If you have questions on the way your home is currently set up for best security, call us, even if you just want to ask questions.
We're here to help.
Cheers!
Kim
p.s. To see a video of a 14 year old girl "bumping" a new Medeco® Deadbolt, please see our blog entry titled "Buying Medeco(r) because they're "bump proof"? Think again..."
BTW - "fail" in blog terminology is simply something that's so bad, it's beyond words to describe, and is better described in pictures. In honor of the repeated "fail" that is Medeco® and it's claim to utter superiority in security, I offer this:
