Abloy Vulnerability Discovered In Finland

Breaking News: March 13, 2013

Abloy, the world's largest lock and key product manufacturing company, today denied reports about a vulnerability discovered in the patented disc detainer locking system

Finish police are investigating a string of break ins, where the attacker apparently removed a building master key, housed in a wall safe (for emergency authority access) that was designed to operate communal doors, maintenance rooms etc, then smashed one apartment door to remove the lock and proceeded to dismantle the key cylinder to determine the master key for the apartment complex, using the available sub master key, found in the emergency access vault and determining the discs in the cylinder he managed to access.

He was then able to determine the correct building master key and open all the apartments in that building.

A long time locksmith with over 40 years experience was called in by authorities to forensically verify the police assumption and he found their theory plausible and on point.

Abloy is well known across the world for it's strength and simplicity. It is well knows for it's virtually unlimited master keying properties and until now, was thought to be among the most secure of the available mechanical key security products found in the world.

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BlueID - Bluetooth Dongle Allows You To Use Your Cell Phone As Your Car Key

Yesterday we wrote an article discussing a piece we found in the LA Times about AAA believing that mobile cell phones will soon replace the ages old mechanical metal car key.

I think, perhaps that article was written in response to a product displayed at the CeBIT expo held last week in Germany.


BlueID is a company in Germany that produce Bluetooth kits that allow for access controls to various entries, including but not limited to barrier gates, lifts (elevators), residential and commercial dwelling doors and of course cars, as seen in the picture above. (see video after the jump)

'Nightmare' Bacteria Spreading In U.S. Hospitals, Nursing Homes According To The CDC

An article has appeared in MSN News in the last few days alerting readers to a bacteria that is showing signs of resistance to powerful anti-biotics.

"The  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  said 4 percent of U.S. hospitals and 18 percent of nursing homes had treated at least one patient with the bacteria, called Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), within the first six months of 2012."

"CRE are nightmare bacteria. Our strongest antibiotics don't work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a news release. "Doctors, hospital leaders and public health [officials] must work together now to implement the CDC's 'detect and protect' strategy and stop these infections from spreading."

Serrature Meroni, the Italian manufacturer of nouveau door locks and cabinet and furniture hardware, developed their patented Anti-Bacterial handlesets a few years ago, just as the world was learning about Bird Flu.

Cell Phones To Replace Car Keys And Smart Cards - According to AAA

An article that appeared in the LA Times on March 12, 2013, talks about a recent report from the AAA about the likelihood of auto keys being replaced by your cell phone becoming much more prevalent in newer vehicles.

It is no secret that the auto (car) key market has become increasingly an electro-mechanical device, in recent years.

AAA reported that in the last 12 months, they attended around 4,000,000 lockout entries in their service call logs. This number has been quite consistent over the last decade, however they are noticing a decline in the quantity of calls for this type of service.

Safes Of A Different Era - Superb Craftsmanship

Wow!

From Italy - With Love - we're back

We return from abroad this week, with a much needed recharge and more products to write about. Our recent trip abroad allowed us to visit the Serrature Meroni factory just outside Milan, Italy. We also managed to fit in some visits to sites across the country that use Meroni products.

While it certainly was a productive business trip, we managed to fit in some touring and wine tasting activities and also enjoy the fabulous quality and cost savings for genuine Italian leather goods.

In Milan, we visited the world reknowned La Scala opera house, In Florence, the Terrazzo Michelangelo, the Uffizzi and the beautiful city as it is seen at night, while in Venice, we toured the Doge's palace and the fabulous Murano Glass Factory.

The purpose of the trip was to touch base with the talented engineers and manufacturers of the superb Serrature Meroni lock company and to learn more about their exciting range of products, their visions for the future and to discuss minor changes to products to better compete in the market here in the USA.

Up coming articles here will feature expanded discussions about the multitude of different products, Meroni are well known for as well as new products that are likely to make competitors envious.

Stay tuned!

Card Reader That Works Underwater

EMX Industries Inc. have been mentioned in this website before, as makers of super-high quality electronic sensors and switching equipment including keypad and proximity control systems.

They recently brought out a new item that might interest you, who have locations that are prone to a lot of rain or inclement weather environments.

The CR 2000 is a waterproof keypad with wiegand wireless hook up and has the option of a proximity sensor too. It is totally waterproof as shown in the next picture. 

To all you seafloor dwellers, you can now have super easy to use access control that will work continuously submerged.

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Google Analytics - Website Analytics That Work For You

Like many websites, we also use and swear by Google Analytics to measure our penetration across the web.
In the last couple of years we have listed the top 10 search results that led visitors to this site.

We recently determined that between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012 we enjoyed a whopping 72,866 visits to this site. On average, each visitor clicked through 1.5 pages each and spent an average of 1 minute and 8 seconds on the site.

There were visits from 171 countries and about 6200 different cities (includes separate IP addresses)

In the United States alone, we were seen by 45,039 visitors who spent an average 1 minute 53 seconds on the site.

Many Google Analytics users measure performance  by the % of their bounce rate. While this is not a super-accurate metric, it does tend to indicate how your visitors feel about the information presented on the landing page and whether or not they feel the need to look at other pages on your site.

During the same period above, we measure 77.05% bounce rate. This tells us that visitors to our pages, find the answer to their initial search inquiry 77% of the time on the first landing page. The lower the bounce rate, the greater likelihood that visitors are visiting more than just the landing page.

Any business person requires suitable data to determine the effectiveness of their websites and having Google Analytics in your corner, in my opinion is a given.