{"id":204,"date":"2008-06-16T12:30:19","date_gmt":"2008-06-16T10:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/?p=204"},"modified":"2008-06-17T14:57:17","modified_gmt":"2008-06-17T12:57:17","slug":"a-new-attack-on-electronic-locks-the-magnetic-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/?p=204","title":{"rendered":"A new attack on electronic locks: The magnetic ring"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been quite some speculation about this video (YouTube)<\/a><\/u> of a magnetic ring that is used to open some model of Uhlmann & Zacher<\/a><\/u> lock. By now it is confirmed by the company<\/a><\/u> itself the trick works. They claim a software update will fix the problem (and even log opening attempts).<\/p>\n

\"null\"<\/a>(click on image for a high resolution version)<\/p>\n

The ring used in the video now has a name: ‘the ring of the devil’ and is already available on the market<\/a><\/u> (just 25 euro!). <\/p>\n

And the questions now are: What is in the ring, how does it work and what locks are affected? <\/p>\n

Well … I have some answers. Saturday I received my own magnetic ring and can give you some details.<\/p>\n

Some people thought the ring was completely magnetic<\/a><\/u>, but this is not the case<\/a><\/u>. The ring is made out of aluminum and there are four strong magnets inside. The spacing is 90\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00b0 and the magnets are mounted N, S, N, S. On this image<\/a><\/u> you can see four metal keyrings that are stuck to the ring by the magnetic fields. So far I did not pry open my ring to see what it looks like inside.<\/p>\n

The next question is why does this open (some) electronic locks? Electronics is not my strongest point (as you could have read in my previous posting), but by now I understand a little more about it.<\/p>\n

Solenoid VS Electro motor<\/FONT><\/p>\n

\"solenoid<\/a>image: Winkhaus BlueChip solenoid vs electro motor from Burgwachter (ring will NOT open this lock!)<\/p>\n

First things first: Over the years we have visited many lock companies, and if they had electronic (or electro mechanical) locks they all proudly showed us their lock was not using a solenoid. A solenoid is a metal pin that is being pulled into its housing by an electro magnet. So when current is applied to this coil, the electro magnetic field will pull the pin in, allowing the lock to open. The problem with a solenoid is that a nearby magnet can pull the pin down as well, and thus open the lock (like in the first generation<\/a><\/u> Winkhaus BlueChip, problem fixed in later generations). On top of that vibrations also sometimes can bypass solenoids. So instead of a solenoid most manufacturers nowadays use a small electronic motor. If the motor makes a couple of rotations, a blocking element is pulled back and the lock opens. Turning the electronic lock the other way pushes back the blocking element and the lock is closed. A foolproof system…. until now.<\/p>\n

The ‘ring of the devil’ is capable of attacking this kind of electronic motor lock on two ways.<\/p>\n

Scenario 1: An electronic motor<\/a><\/u> is nothing more then a metal part on an axe that turns because of a changing magnetic field. Turning electro magnets on and off will generate a pulling force on the metal part, making it rotate. The ring does the same thing. By turning the ring, the metal part in the electro motor starts turning, opening the lock. As Rop suggested in the comments of the previous posting, a bunch of bigger magnets and maybe a high-speed drill can amplify this effect some more.<\/p>\n

Scenario 2: A dynamo<\/a><\/u> is nothing more then a coil charged by a changing magnetic field. So any coil in the lock will start generating current when a magnetic field is rotating around it. If the coil is in the path of the electro motor, it might generate enough current for the motor to start turning.<\/p>\n

Currently we are testing with this magnetic ring. Jord Knaap<\/a><\/u> and Han Fey already found one other electro\/mechanical lock that seems to open under some conditions with this technique. As with all problems we personally discover, we are first going to notify the manufacturer to give them some time to analyze the problem. But with the ‘devils ring’ out on the free market it will probably be a matter of day’s\/weeks before other people will find (and report) locks that are vulnerable to it. <\/p>\n

I can assure you this is not the last post about this new attack on electronic (and electro mechanical) locks on this weblog …..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been quite some speculation about this video (YouTube) of a magnetic ring that is used to open some model of Uhlmann & Zacher lock. By now it is confirmed by the company itself the trick works. They claim a software update will fix the problem (and even log opening attempts). (click on image […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blackbag.toool.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}