Twist a Pen, Open a Lock

Source: Wired.com
Date: September 17, 2004
By: Leander Kahney
Link: Online Story

Twist a Pen, Open a Lock

After cutting four small slits in the end of the pen’s barrel to ease it in, the lock opened with a single twist.

A 50-year-old lock design was rendered useless last week when a brief post to an internet forum revealed the lock can be popped open with a cheap plastic pen.

On Sunday, bike enthusiast and network security consultant Chris Brennan described opening an expensive Kryptonite bike lock using a ballpoint pen.

“Your brand new U-Lock is not safe,” warned Brennan in a note posted to Bike Forums.

Wired News tested Brennan’s claims. A brand new Kryptonite Evolution 2000 was opened in seconds using a Bic pen. After cutting four small slits in the end of the pen’s barrel to ease it in, the lock opened with a single twist.

Brennan, 25, of San Francisco, said he successfully opened two Kryptonite locks, an Evolution 2000 and an older Kryptonite Mini lock.

Subsequent posts to Bike Forums and other websites report the vulnerability applies to many of the company’s cylindrical-lock products, including some from Kryptonite’s vaunted New York series.