Nice site on lock forensics

I have good memories about being in court … as an expert witness on locks.

It is nice to be able to shed some light on a difficult problem and make the difference. The few cases I have been in court it was all about the insurance company not willing to pay. They claimed cars could not have been stolen because of very advanced anti-theft immobilizers and locks that could not have been opened without any signs of damage. In all cases Han Fey and me were involved they lost the case or paid straight away after reading our testimony.

screenshot of http://www.lockpickingforensics.com

There is no such thing as opening a lock without a scratch, as all mechanical tools to do so will leave marks. The problem for people looking for marks is that they should be aware of all opening techniques and tools. Each tool or technique leaves a different mark, and some marks can be really really subtle! And since there are a lot of techniques (some more known then others!), the knowledge of the forensic expert should be very wide.

So I am always keeping an eye out for information on forensics, and recently received a link to http://www.lpforensics.com

It is a very nice source of information on this topic. Worth your time, so take a look …

5 Responses to “Nice site on lock forensics”

  1. Henk says:

    Very interesting!!Thanks for sharing

  2. thebadangel says:

    The Link didnt work for me ๐Ÿ™
    I hope u can fix it

    Very nice blog btw ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. datagram says:

    Hello everyone,

    Seem to be having some DNS issues with the primary domain name…please use http://www.lpforensics.com until I get it sorted out.

    Hope you guys enjoy the site. If there is anything you would like to see added to the site, or any comments/criticism, please contact me (details on site) or post it here.

    Thanks,
    datagram

  4. datagram, have you considered putting up a small “database” of pictures/explanation of broken/forced locks? Would be very nice to have realworld situation photos of locks and examination of the marks and conclusion of method used to break the lock.

    I have two or three locks that have been forced open in some way and they have prettu nice tool marks and one of the locks (Abloy PL3020) shows a very characteristic method of opening it by force.

    I could easily take photos of these (and more in the future if I see more locks vandalized) and send to you. And no copyrights or whatsoever on those pictures, so you would be free to use them, just mention the photographer ๐Ÿ™‚

    Eagerly waiting for new content already, although I haven’t yet read all the pages yet ๐Ÿ˜› Now I have time to read as I’m sick…

  5. datagram says:

    Both URLs are working now, my apologies. Use whichever you find easier to remember or type.

    Jaako, yes, I have considered that. I’m not sure how I want to do it, though. The original idea was to have people send me locks that they did something to as a sort of challenge. This would let me get more experience with strange locks/compromise techniques, but I realize most people don’t want to send me locks, even if they are destroyed ๐Ÿ™‚

    I would be glad if you could send me your images, or upload them to LockWiki.com under whichever license you want. The only problem with sending me images of locks is that I can’t get too in depth and do laboratory investigations, tool mark comparisons, or anything else that might be of that nature and good for the site. Regardless, I would be happy to have the content, as I don’t have the funds to do some of the more advanced forced entry against expensive locks.

    In related news, I will be doing the destructive entry section of the website this weekend. Anyone have suggestions as to what should be includeed?

    Thanks,
    datagram