Saturday, July 28, 2012

Small gun safes considered unsafe

Design defects in small gun safes from Stack-On, GunVault, and Bulldog mean that they can be opened by toddlers:



Full story.  This seems a lot like what goes on in computer security - designers not being as smart as they think they are - other than the 3 year old getting accidentally shot.

UPDATE 28 July 2012 16:47: Oops, it looks like this was presented at DEFCON.  Which makes the tie in to hacking obvious.  Damn, I need to get out there next year.

6 comments:

Alan said...

Like the guy said, a hasp and padlock would be more secure than these safes.

That said, safe storage laws are stupid. There's no such thing as a safe that can't be opened or a lock that can't be picked. It's just a matter of how long it takes.

Dwight Brown said...

"...designers not being as smart as they think they are"

I liked the way one of the presenters put it. Engineers build things and fix things: there's not a culture in engineering of breaking things. So the people who engineer these boxes don't think "Okay, now how would I break into this?"

Anonymous said...

... there's not a culture in engineering of breaking things...

I wouldn't say that, destructive testing of materials (say, safes and vaults) can be a ball.

A 'safe' that costs a fraction of what an industry standard mechanical combination lock costs?

Ya kind of would have been better off throwing away the 'safe', keeping the cardboard box it came in, label the box 'safe', and have peace of mind knowing how secure your arms really are.

Dan said...

While I agree that not all products
are engineered as well as the designer believes they are I'd have
to say that this video is almost
certainly staged. This kid was coached and had lots of practice before the camera was turned on.

Anonymous said...

Made in China?

Anonymous said...

A little off topic, but,
SECURE YOUR SAFE!
My 800+ pound Ft. Knox was taken because it was not secured to the wall and foundation (owner error).
Fortunately, being such a quality product, it was never breached!
I have the combination dial and locking handle left behind to remind me!
gfa