Security Analyst Shows How You Can Break Down A ‘Smart Lock’ In 10s

Locks aren’t something that most of us think about in our daily lives — they’re just there. We lock our homes when we leave for school or work in the mornings and we unlock them when we come back. We don’t give locks a second thought unless there’s been a break-in or we become locked out.

Cybergibbons, who describes himself as a reverse engineer, hardware hacker, security analyst, lock picker and heist planner, figured out the vulnerabilities of one particular smart lock — the Pineworld Lock that costs 139.99 pounds. According to the security specialist, some burglars could get the expensive lock open in around 10 seconds. Bored Panda interviewed Cybergibbons, aka Andrew Tierney, so scroll down to read more of his insights about security, the capabilities of burglars, and how to protect your home.

More info: cybergibbons.com | Twitter

Security analyst Cybergibbons explained why some smart locks aren’t as safe as you’d think

Image credits: cybergibbons

Image credits: Amazon

Image credits: cybergibbons

Bored Panda asked Cybergibbons whether mechanical locks are safer than electronic locks, he had this to say: “I don’t think you can generalize this much. [However,] you don’t need to spend as much to get a decent mechanical lock. Many of the electronic ones are bad, though.”

Worried that modern burglars are getting so advanced that they’d have no problem breaking the electronic locks protecting our bamboo farms, Bored Panda questioned Cybergibbons about the modern capabilities of evil-doers.

“A typical burglar isn’t advanced. Really you are looking at lock-snapping being the most advanced attack. It is often just force. There are not the same kind of electronic attacks as against cars, because there is no money in it and you can’t trivially tell from the outside.”

Tierney revealed that he has worked full-time in information security for 4 years and got into the business “via a misspent youth.” Living in London, England, he currently works for Pen Test Partners.

While the majority of burglars rely on brute force and tried-and-tested tricks of their trade, there are some who go the advanced route and become cyber-burglars. Case in point, as CNBC writes, a “high-tech burglary crew” stole more than 10 million dollars while using the sorts of tactics we usually only ever see on the silver screen.

Tierney gave sound, common-sense advice on how to best protect your home from burglars and other criminal masterminds: “Cover the basics first — door and window locks. Try to stop people from getting to hidden areas like the back garden. Keep valuables out of sight. Get a safe.” So it’s best to cover the basics first before worrying about potential ninja-cyber-burglars.