New Award - Rank #2 In "Top Locksmith Blogs - Worldwide" - By Independent Organization

​We are pleased to announce our recent recognition by an independent reviewer about our inclusion in their list of "Top 100 Locksmith Blogs In The World".

This independent site has no ties to any particular organization and judges its criteria on a number of factors, including longevity, number of comments, layout, regularity of posts, diction, readability, interest and variation of posts.

Click on the picture above to see this site and our #2 listing.

Thursday Night Is The Most Active Locksmith Call Night In Israel.

There is a website in Israel that promotes many different trades and offers FREE opportunities to tradespeople to advertise their offerings.

Unlike Home Advisor, Angies List, Thumbtack and other lead generation companies in the North American market, pro.co.il offer listings of tradespeople that consumers can call directly instead of being misled by middlemen lead generation companies hoping to profit off of your search. Many of the listed lead generation companies above tout their product as FREE to the consumer, however they continually fail to mention that their listed trades companies are actually competing for your business with sometimes hefty lead fees.

According to an article recently published, researchers determined that Thursday night is the busiest night for locksmith calls across Israel, with about a quarter of all locksmiths residing in and around the Tel Aviv area. Tel Aviv is the little countries largest city and naturally the busiest for locksmiths. Read the article in the source for more information.

The professional contact website (for locksmiths) is listed in the source below.

We also have a similar directory for locksmiths on offer through our A Locksmith In directory. We accept new applications from colleagues around the world.

(Source...)

Midas Touch - Fingerprint Padlock Is The Perfect Product For Retail Security Solutions

The Midas Touch - PL1000 and PL1000B is a new product released February 14, 2017, that is gaining interest.

Two versions have been released. One for regular use, which we will talk about in a moment, and the other for use on bicycles.

The product allows for up to 30 fingerprints to be recorded within and uses upgraded image sensors to improve the security levels therein.









Specifications:

Fingerprint Sensor :

• Compliance with ANSI/INCIT 378 and ISO/IEC 19794-2
• Spatial resolution : 508dpi
• FAR : 1/100,000
• FRR : 1.59%

Fingerprint Padlock :

• Identified time : < 1sec
• Fingerprint capacity : 30 sets
• Battery type : Rechargeable Li-polymer battery
  Battery power : 4.2V 50mAh
• Battery life : At least 1200 times (lock & unlock) per charge. At least 160 times (lock & unlock) at low battery level
• Charging input : 5VDC @ 36mA (max), USB charge port for battery charging and emergency power
• LED indicator/ Beep tone : for unlock, lock, fingerprint mismatching, enrollment mode, low battery, charging
• Housing material : Zinc alloys
• Dimension : 63 x 28 x 10 mm
• Weight : 37g
• Shackle tensile strength : 25 ~ 30Kg
• Operating temperature : -10°C ~ 40°C
• Protection rating : IP54
• Certificate : CE , FCC

Fingerprint Recognition Algorithm Support

• Good adaptability to dry, wet, or fuzzy finger
• Repair the fractured fingerprints automatically
• Great anti-deformation ability
• Supporting 360 °Authentication
• Self-learning during usage
• ISO Standard: ANSI/INCIT 378 Compliant Extractor & Matcher
• Compliant ISO/IEC 19794-2 fingerprint minutia standards.
• Fingerprint Template Size < 1KB
• Verification speed < 700 ms

We have been touting biometric security for many years now, but have been reluctant to put complete faith in many fingerprint products for s few reasons.

1. Many customers desire to use fingerprint controlled devices outside. If weather and climate conditions are perfect, image sensors built into many fingerprint devices will operate flawlessly, but climate conditions today are far from perfect. In fact, many hardwired or battery powered access control products are severely affected by wet conditions, excessive humidity, wiring infrastructure shortfalls, sunlight, water and operational issues.
2. As a consequence of some of the above issues, many fingerprint sensors require to have their sensitivity setting turned down significantly. to enable many users fingerprints to be easily recognized by the device. This directly reduces the perceived security of your product.

As mentioned above, we believe that this particular fingerprint operated padlock could be a sensational solution for retail security. I'm sure you have seen and continue to see retail security devices connected to clothing items and other products in department stores, boutiques, dress shops etc.

Using a fingerprint padlock will mean the ability to efficiently limit access to authorized staff and not have to worry about lost keys or access cards or shared combinations.

Just remember, if you want your product to last and operate effectively, use it indoors.

(source...) 

BlueBorne - A New Attack That Exposes Almost Every Bluetooth Connected Device

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***BREAKING NEWS***

The Attack Vector “BlueBorne” Exposes Almost Every Connected Device

If there were not enough cyber attacking to worry about...


Check out this current threat to anyone who uses Bluetooth on their devices.

Recently exposed and alerted to Apple, Google and Microsoft in August, a recent threat to virtually all devices has been issued.

If there were any more reason to stick with mechanical high security lock systems, what are they?
Many locks today are Bluetooth controlled too. Mechanical key locks, like Bilock Extreme Security restricted key systems are maintenance free and virtually pick proof, are 100% bump proof and virtually improbable to duplicate the color coded keys

If you currently use a connected device, you may want to disconnect the Bluetooth functionality until the new patches have been sent over the air.

Here are some excerpts from our discovery....

(source...)

Allergen Detector Fits On Your Keyring - Star Trek Future Is Not So Far Off

Will someone please develop Warp energy so humankind can speed up technological development and progress?

The American Chemical Society recently announced completion of development for a new device aimed at detecting food allergens, efficiently and quickly.

We include the story in this blog because it is designed to fit on your key chain.

Food allergies make eating out an exercise frought with danger for a great many people. Having to always know the exact ingredients before you select that menu item, makes going out for dinner, ever so difficult today.
What with the allergens contained in food stuffs that could potentially make the consumer quite ill, scientists and restauranteurs are continually searching for tools and methods to protect patrons.

Thanks to many years of research and development the ACS has finally delivered a quick diagnotic device capable of detecting food allergens in about 10 minutes.

Not currently for sale, but close to release, the key chain size detector is a major breakthrough aimed to help those who suffer from food allergies, to know in advance if the food they have chosen will affect them.

The diagram here, from the paper, shows the device in an enclosure with a multi-electrode attachment (not for sale).

Essentially, you take a tiny amount of the desired food, place it on the single use slide - an antigen extraction device, an element that does the necessary chemical deconstruction and plug that slide into the keychain sized iEAT device.

In about 10 minutes, it should tell you if any allergens are present and how much.

Right now the device is set up to detect Peanuts, Hazelnuts, Wheat, Milk and Eggs, but can be tailored to detect a host of other products.

(apparently during development, researchers tested the device on a few restaurant items and detected gluten in a supposed "gluten-free" salad and in another test, detected egg protein in beer )


The whole thing apparently costs only $40. But the one-use sliders are where they will get you in cost, no doubt.

Perhaps they will eventually offer bulk slide deals, but at least you will enjoy the option to know in advance of consumption whether your throat is going to close up or youre going to puke your guts after your meal.

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Hooply Locks - Inquiries Flood In Due To Recent Hurricanes In USA

We have talked about the Hooply range of products, over the past few years (See Hooply) and now we are adding some additional pictures of products in their vast range and style of locks and handle systems.

Pictured above, is The Hooply Large Handle Series HL-9978. It is shown with a fancy brass thumbpress entrance set.

The lock body and mechanism are surprisingly solid and strong, compared to more mainstream products found in North America. You can see the lock bolts with 4 stainless steel bolts besides the latch mechanism, providing superior strength from destructive entry.

Hooply superior lock products incorporate high-security dimple type keys and cylinders in many of their range because the wider industry has found dimple locks to be harder to pick and bump, keys are more difficult to duplicate and offer security for those reasons.

Hooply products are often built into hurricane proof doors because of their unique strength, combined with their upmarket beauty and easy conventional operation.

With America reeling from a few hurricanes affecting millions of people in recent weeks, Hooply locks, which are used in many upmarket residences to protect from hurricane winds, have been found to protect residences from forces of wind, rain and flooding.

Now, dont get me wrong! We do understand there are some minor issues regarding the strength of the actual handle mechanisms, but the main lock body and securing components of the hardware are second to none in my opinion.

More pictures... (we apologise for picture quality as these come directly from our factory catalog)

There are many more styles and options in our catalog.

We can source parts for you.

Please contact us for more information.

Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock - New Stock Arrived

One of our most popular products, the Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock, continues to see increasing sales across the North American market.

As indicated recently, the monetary exchange rate between Australia and the USA has changed and resulted in increased cost to buy the product. Combined with a slight increase in shipping and customs, we will be required to increase the price of this in-demand product, eventually.

Right now, we are letting the product go for $128 plus shipping and handling of $25 (to the lower 48). Compared to "other" brands of keyed pocket door locks, like the Baldwin which sells for ~$430 plus shipping or the Emtek which sells for ~$166 plus shipping, our pricing is still competitive.

We have decided to maintain our current pricing for the time being. We expect to increase the price around January 1st, 2018 to $144.00 plus shipping.

If you are sitting on the fence about purchasing, NOW is the time to beat the price increase.

Click on the picture in the top left of this site to purchase at the cheaper price. But be quick, as we expect this inventory to rapidly sell out.

Cnet Article Attempts to Forecast The End Of Car Keys

A new article and video on Cnet has surfaced in an attempt to forecast the end of mechanical car keys.

As a locksmith, who has worked in the key and access control industry for over 30 years, both stateside and internationally, I have heard similar tired stories of the end of the auto car key, yet they are still here and while they are indeed becoming fewer, across more modern vehicles, they are a long way from being eliminated.

In fact, manufacturers still produce some vehicles using mechanical car keys because it is actually cheaper, longer lasting and better quality with less issues than nouveau app controlled access control components.

About 25 years ago, the first iterations of "chip" keys or "transponder" keys began to surface in an attempt by automobile manufacturers to "better secure" vehicles.

View the video and article in the source below...