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This fingerprint-verified smart lock can be foiled by a magnet:
Tapplock, a company that makes fingerprint-verified locks, has had a rough time with its locks' security. The company's flagship lock, which has been available since 2019, is apparently easy to pop open with a magnet. YouTuber LockPickingLawyer published a video last week showing how he could use a powerful magnet to turn the motor inside the Tapplock One Plus, causing it to open. The entire process takes less than 30 seconds.
The Tapplock One Plus costs $99 and features a fingerprint sensor. It also has built-in Bluetooth, so people can unlock it using an app. In response to the video, Tapplock commented: "Wow! Shout out to LPL for finding this exploit. Working on a fix with magnetic shielding, will be back."
This is a commendable reply, although it doesn't do much for people who already bought the lock. Most companies ignore bug reports or fail to fix the flaw. It at least seems like Tapplock wants to figure out how to prevent this kind of attack.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday April 06 2020, @10:55AM (6 children)
OK, that's probably noisier, and is almost certainly tamper-evident, so not as good as this hack, but I'd still be quite confident of working.
Workaround for this hack - two motors next to each other that have opposite polarities such that both need to move at the same time (otherwise you'd move one, then move the other, just like normal lockpicking).
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Immerman on Monday April 06 2020, @01:31PM (5 children)
Lockpicking is the art of *discretely* bypassing security. Once you invoke drilling out the lock, *every* lock is vulnerable. Most are also vulnerable to bolt cutters, and all to angle grinders. You can make the case out of hardened steel or something so that the process takes longer or requires special bits, but destructive penetration is generally impossible to stop, you can only slow it down.
Moreover, if an attacker is willing to be destructive, the lock is quite often the most secure component of the overall security, and it's likely to be far faster and easier to ignore it entirely and attack some other potential entrance. How many big expensive door locks have you seen securing rooms with drywall walls that you could kick your way through in seconds? Or drop ceilings that would let you go over the walls?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 06 2020, @04:37PM (4 children)
> ...all to angle grinders.
Careful with absolutes. I found a turbine blade from a jet engine (surplus) and noticed it had tiny holes in it, I believe for either cooling or boundary layer control. Anyway, I tried to grind it open with my bench grinder to see how the holes were internally routed. The blade started to destroy my grinding wheel, while the blade showed a little polished spot--maybe it was made from a nickel superalloy?
If I needed a really good padlock (cost no object), I'd have it made out of this material!
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday April 06 2020, @06:37PM
I find your post fascinating, but that you post AC is very frustrating. You do understand that there is no way to differentiate one AC from another? Some AC postings are brilliant, some are the worst trolling ever. It'd be nice to know who you are, have some consistency with communication. Don't get it?
Anyway, if what you're saying is true, I'm intrigued. If you have an "angle grinder" (dumb name- what, it only grinds angles? Sigh...) please try cutting turbine blade with a cutoff wheel. A high-speed pneumatic one would be a similar test.
When I was a kid I got some various grinding tips with 1/4" shafts. Chucked them in a drill and grinded on things. They would wear down fast, but cause some damage. Then, long story aside, I got a 26K RPM grinder, and radical change- grinding tips stayed intact and things grinded went away. Hmmm. Very interesting. Speed matters, and depends on the materials involved.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday April 07 2020, @06:33AM (2 children)
It might also become the weapon of choice in the Battle for Scottish Independence.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday April 08 2020, @01:56AM (1 child)
I'd recommend an organ grinder myself. Far more frightening.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday April 08 2020, @05:13AM
But then there's the danger of grinding your own organs. If you only want to hurt Anglo-Saxons, well...