CLIQ Electronic High-Security Locks Easily Defeated at DefCon

Breaking News

Notorious and reknowned lock pickers Mark Tobias, Toby Bluzmanis and Matt Fiddler, have demonstrated techniques to easily defeat the supposedly un-defeatable CLIQ products being manufactured by the world leading High-Security lock manufacturing company Assa-Abloy.

From Wired.com, "The hacks are low-tech and don’t involve attacking the actual electronic component of the lock. Instead, they use standard techniques for opening mechanical locks, similar to bumping — where an attacker places a specially-designed key in the keyway and “bumps” it repeatedly with a device until the lock releases."

“These [locks] are used in some high-security facilities,” Tobias said. “And the makers tout the fact that this is the ultimate in security. And they shouldn’t be saying that.

The locks cost between $600 and $800 apiece, with keys costing about $95 each.

They’re used in government buildings, banks, and critical infrastructures, such as power and water plants and transportation facilities. The Swiss Federal Railway System uses them as does the Ottawa International Airport in Canada.

The locks use what’s called CLIQ technology, developed by top Swedish lock maker Assa Abloy, and its Germany-based subsidiary Ikon. The locks were first made in 2002 by Assa Abloy, but the same core technology is now used all over the world in electronic high-security locks made by other Assa Abloy subsidiaries, such as Medeco, Mul-T-Lock and Ikon."

"According to an Assa Abloy marketing video, the combination of electronic and mechanical offers “a double layer of impenetrable security.”

But the researchers found that none of the technology’s ultra-high-security features — digital ID, encrypted communication, or audit log — matter."

“[CLIQ] is a very sophisticated system,” Tobias says. “Mechanically it’s terrific. Electronically it’s terrific. But from the security engineering standpoint, our opinion is it’s not competent. If you can circumvent accountability, you have a major problem.”

The lock makers say they can’t respond to the issues Tobias is raising until he tells them exactly how his attacks work. But before he’s willing to give them the details, Tobias has insisted the makers agree to fix the vulnerable locks retroactively with no cost to customers who have already purchased them. Something they refuse."

"Bluzmanis demonstrated an attack by taking an Interactive CLIQ electro-mechanical lock made by Mul-T-Lock and inserting a mechanical-only key cut to the same keyway. After inserting the key, he does something to vibrate the key for a few seconds until the mechanical motor in the cylinder turns and lifts the locking element to release the lock."

“There’s no audit trail that the lock has been opened,” Tobias says, “because there are no electronics [involved]. If the attacker entered the room to steal documents or sabotage the facility, the last person who entered before him and who showed up in the audit log, would presumably get the blame."

" When electro-mechanical keys are lost, administrators don’t rekey the locks, they simply reprogram the system to reject any key with that unique ID. But a thief could remove the key’s battery and convert it to a mechanical key. Without the battery, the cylinder wouldn’t know a key has been inserted; the thief could then vibrate the lock to open it."

"Once the lock is opened, it will remain unlocked until a valid electro-mechanical key is inserted. Until then, even an electro-mechanical key deprogrammed to work with the lock — because an employee left the company or the key was lost or stolen — will work. Because the de-programmed key has a battery, the chip in the cylinder will log it as an “access denied” event, but the person holding the key will still be able to open the door."

(source...) Special Thanks to Harry Liebman of CandyTorahs.com for pointing to this article.

Narrow Stile Key Locked Patio/Pocket Door Lock

Pictured here is a product we are now stocking, that enables a patio sliding door lock to be replaced with a key entry model.

It is designed to be a flush mount, meaning that the handles are fitted into the body of the door frame, which also makes them very suitable for pocket doors.

This beautiful and simple design is fundamentally different to many other similar type products because the actual latch only requires a small hole in the door edge for installation.

There are very few key lockable patio/pocket door locks available at such a competitive list price.

Installation of these locks often requires some patch work necessary to fill the holes in the PVC door frame. We use a very special product especially designed to repair virtually any PVC frame or pipe. It is designed to fill the existing hole/s simply and matchable to virtually any color.

The list price on this lock is $29.99 but it can be found even cheaper if you search in depth online.

Pocket Door Lock/Patio Door Lock with key, now available here today.

UPDATE 08/06/09

This product is designed for maximum 1-1/4" thick doors. I know this from first hand experience and not reading the instructions properly.

Chubb M3 (Medeco) Lock Bumped open

This example is from over 1 year ago online by a professional locksmith in the United Kingdom.

Chubb have an overseas license to the Medeco M3 lock system and market it complete with the Chubb name embossed on the product.

Medeco technology is requested by many US companies attempting to maintain some uniformity across their properties, however as this video plainly shows, the Medeco product is NOT BUMP PROOF.

I must repeat that the original and first bump proof pin tumbler lock cylinder product on the market is the Bilock Extreme Security mechanism. With Bilock, you can guarantee that duplicate keys cannot be produced and that bump keys WILL NOT WORK. Bilock locks were first manufactured in Australia in the early 1970's. The product is found in 132 countries around the world and is favored by casinos, banks and government institutions to protect property.

Never Get Lost Again

How often have you travelled to a different town or country, parked your rental car in a multi-level carpark, returned but have forgotten where you parked the car?

How often have you been to an unfamiliar place only to have your bearings all turned around?

Maybe you travel overseas, stay in hotels but forget which corner your hotel is on.

Here is a novel product that can assist you with not having to remember all the gory details. Simply activate the GPS, lock in your current position, go on your way and use it's locator function to return you to home.

Certainly a novel idea.

My primary concern with an item of this kind is that potentially you give a potential thief, your exact location of your property. They will have your key and your property location. Is that smart?

(source...)

Schlage Primus Bump Key Attack

The above video is one of the most recent items of evidence that clearly show Schlage Primus locks are NOT BUMP PROOF.

There are multiple advertizers online that falsely advertize Primus as a bump proof product. It never has been or is capable of being bump proof.

While it is true, that Primus is a very good quality product, this video evidence proves beyond any doubt that the product is not bump proof as advertized by so many online marketers.

So who do you believe today?

If some locksmiths are proven wrong, who do you trust?

Put your trust in Bilock Extreme Security products. The original 100% fully guaranteed bump proof pin tumbler product on the market.

Update 7/20/09

I am not so sure if readers fully appreciate the temerity of the situation with bump keys. Bump keys can be created by anyone who has access to the pin tumbler key belonging to a lock or group of locks. You see, if someone has a key in their hand, that slides into the desired keyhole (it doent have to turn - just slide in), they can create a bump key for that very lock or group of locks.

Where it gets scarier, is considering that large institutions, universities, churches, hospitals, public amenities, government capitol buildings, defense department facilities, naval boats, office complexes etc, that operate using a master key system or multiple systems are even more prone to this simple form of attack. Master key systems that employ the modern pin tumbler principle ( as originally patented by Linus Yale in 1864), which include almost all the most recognizeable brands today, Schlage, Kwikset, Tylo, Yale, Corbin, Assa, Medeco, Primus, Scorpion, Lockwood, Russwin, Baldwin, Cambridge, Plymouth, Mul-t-lock, Best, Falcon, Master, ILCO, American Lock just to name a few are built using multiple pins (also called wafers) in each tumbler position. This fundamentally exposes each lock cylinder to substantially less security. These keyholes are even easier to circumvent using the bump key techniques.

Burglars Hit Mike's Neighbors

Twittermic audiocast...StrikeMaster II


I took a call from Mike the other day who reported a problem with securing his front and back doors. It seems his neighbors in the other three condominiums had all been broken into by having their doors kicked open.

My first and automatic response to this kind of question is to recommend the Strikemaster II product be installed to front and back door jambs.

I explained that the cardinal reason, many doors get kicked open is because they are the easiest way to get in. You see, most locks today are installed on steel case doors. The inside and outside skin of modern external doors is encased in light steel. When installing any lock to the door the lock rarely gives way in attempted break ins. It is more often the door jamb. That area where the door closes into. The strike plate that most existing knobs and deadbolts lock into are most often held on to the door jamb by short 1" long wood screws. Why? Because most door jambs are constructed of 1" wide pine.

The secret to making sure your doors are secure, do go two fold.

First you need to make sure the door locks are unable to be picked or bumped or bypassed. I recommend Bilock Extreme Security products for total lock protection.

Second you need to ensure that the door jamb is secured to the stud behind it. Using the Strikemaster II, provides 5' long laminated steel brace secured by 10 x 3" screws, designed to attach to the stud behind the door jamb.

Combining these two methods will deter virtually any reasonably determined intruder.

We are booked next Thursday, thanks Mike.

Twittermic

I'm trialling a new idea to use to advertise for business and wouldnt mind peoples opinions and subjects of interest related to security.

Bilock - Key of the Future, Here Today

Bilock is without doubt the world's leading modern key system.

Sure, it is a system originally developed in Australia in the 1970's, but it has proven since then that it will fit in the widest range of other manufacturers product lines.

From Schlage to Baldwin, Arrow to Corbin, Carbine to Cal-Royal, Marks to Russwin, USLock to LSDA to GMS, Bilock cylinders will retrofit in almost all quality hardware from many of the leading manufacturers.

To top that off, Bilock's engineers will custom manufacture any requested application. So, if you want to have your obsure lock or handle operate using the remarkably secure and fully protected and patented Bilock Extreme Security locking system, simply contact us today for an estimate.

As you can see in the above picture, Bilock also manufactures many OEM products too. The picture also shows many cylinders designed to retro-fit into your existing hardware.

This means that you can reduce the cost of securing your properties by replacing just the cylinders instead of the complete hardware (handles or locks).

Why not maintain your existing functions while having the leading key control system with the most competitively priced, aesthetically pleasing color coded keys and locks of their kind available today?

Bilock products are found in almost every country in the world. Most casinos rely on Bilock products to maintain the security of poker machines, cash dispensers even hotel room doors. The versatility of master key systems using Bilocks multi-million key changes, the ability to identify easily which key works which lock by the color coded heads, combined with the virtually impossible to pick or bump mechanism makes Bilock your best choice for securing your family and your posessions.

How many different brands of locks do you have at home or the office? Do you need so many different keys to maintain all those locks? Speaking to our trained Bilock technicians could potentially reduce your key needs to just one key, without necessarily replacing all your hardware.

It makes perfect sense in todays economy to give yourself peace of mind with the best security products performing the best and most reliable functionality while maintaining the original look and feel of your existing hardwares, using easily identifiable keys that are color coded and impossible to duplicate.

Why are the keys so hard to duplicate?

Because they are all created as originals. Each key is carefully produced and folded into shape making each key unique (even if they are copies of each other).

As the leading Bilock dealer in the mid-west, we use sophisticated software to build all our systems. All keys are recorded and individually marked with a unique number. Tracking your keys will never be so easy.