Check your chair
...because if it's not wet after watching this you might need to schedule a doctor's appointment (and change your locks).
I watched this once then, after my panic attack subsided, I watched it again. Perhaps it was a hoax. Even though the video appeared to be from the German version of the PBS program Nova.
The first thing I notice on the second viewing was that the video was from 2005. Aha! Surely, I would have heard more about this in the more than a year since this story broke, right?
Well, after visiting the site for The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers (TOOL), I'm confident that this is not a hoax has joined the ranks of Dirty Little Secret or Elephant In The Room. Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to propose, or much hope for changing the situation.
I've been called a muckraker, and it is true that I like to shine light on problems that would like to remain in peaceful hibernation, but I'm not so sure about that approach here.
Greater media coverage could force the lock industry to work harder on building a better lock, but it would definitely incite a panic and a rash of nearly undetectable burglaries.
What is the manufacturer's motivation to fix this vulnerable design? A revised locking method would cause a boom for the lock manufacturers and installers. It might only last a few years, but any "boom" in the lock industry would be welcome. How often are there fundamental shifts in lock technology?
Isn't this the World War III of locks?
But the other, more cynical, view is that Reinventing the Wheel (or lock) is admittedly no small chore and manufacturers are likely to figure that they can put their head in the sand and just keep plugging along.
The fact that this report came out a year ago and I'm just now hearing about it give substance to the "nobody will notice" mindset, doesn't it
I can't tell you want to do, or suggest what should be done, but I think I'm gonna go check out the latest offerings in Keyless Lock technology.
technorati tags:lockpicking, locks, burglary, crime, video