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Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#101

Post by larrywright »

smcl wrote: post #47
olalonde wrote: post #28

If the combination does allow for wiggle room and the 1 in 8000 figure is correct, the code could have been brute forced in a couple hours. Source: my wife has a habit of forgetting the combination to her 3 digit luggage lock and I had to brute force it a few times (it's surprisingly quick, about 15 minutes) :)

I had this in university - when I started some documents I needed were delivered to my uni mailbox which was guarded by a code, but we weren't due to get our code until we had completely "matriculated" (signed in, got our IDs, etc). So I just sat down with a couple of beers and set out out to try all 9999 combinations (it was thankfully in the 2000s or so). Made me realise that my university mailbox wasn't actually t…

In the town I live, there was an incident a few years ago with a teenager who got access to his mother’s handgun. She had the gun in a gun safe, with a four digit combo. The teen came home every day after school and started brute-forcing the password. 0000, 0001, and so on. He was determined and patient, and it worked.

https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/teen-...

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#102

Post by Ductapemaster »

emilfihlman wrote: post #68
rvdse wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds similar to the concept of Gray code [0]. For electronic locks, there is a similar method that allows you to try a 4-digit code for each key press [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code [1] http://alvaray.org/brute-forcing-pincode-keypads-using-combi...

Yup, that's the general idea I also had in mind. Those "try all n in shortest combination" sequences are called De Bruijn sequences in general. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bruijn_sequence

These codes have been used to break wireless garage door openers in comically little time: https://samy.pl/opensesame/

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#103

Post by darkpuma »

emilfihlman wrote: post #34
olalonde wrote: post #28

If the combination does allow for wiggle room and the 1 in 8000 figure is correct, the code could have been brute forced in a couple hours. Source: my wife has a habit of forgetting the combination to her 3 digit luggage lock and I had to brute force it a few times (it's surprisingly quick, about 15 minutes) :)

The good thing about normal combination locks is that you can try all combinations sequentially with minimum movement. 000 start 001 1 move 002 1 move ... 008 1 move 009 1 move 019 1 move 018 1 move ... 011 1 move 010 1 move 020 1 move 021 1 move ... and so on.

In practice 009 to 010 is a single move, because your thumb can cover and turn two or more wheels at once.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#104

Post by darkpuma »

jperry wrote: post #5
pferde wrote: post #2

A combination "20 - 40 - 60" on a dial that goes from 1 to 60... Sounds like an equivalent of a factory-default admin/admin login credentials. I wonder if it really was the default combination that the safe was bought with, and the owners never bothered to change it. :)

>The museum had previously enlisted the help of experts to crack the code, tried default combinations, and had contacted former hotel employees to see if they could help. It doesn't sound like it was the default, just a "password1" situation.

Or maybe they just hired shitty locksmiths. Shitty locksmiths are often easier to find than real locksmiths.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#105

Post by notatoad »

gruez wrote: post #49

>The museum had previously enlisted the help of experts to crack the code since they have (essentially) infinite time, why couldn't they attach a machine that tries all possible combinations? feels like something that someone from the high school robotics club could come up with.

from a local article on this, "enlisted the help of experts" means they called the local locksmith and asked if they remembered what the combination was. the answer was no.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#106

Post by stcredzero »

pferde wrote: post #2

A combination "20 - 40 - 60" on a dial that goes from 1 to 60... Sounds like an equivalent of a factory-default admin/admin login credentials. I wonder if it really was the default combination that the safe was bought with, and the owners never bothered to change it. :)

The moral equivalent of "admin,password" happens all the time with physical locks.

With physical goods, the key is often sold with a default bitting. (Which is the data embodied in the key equivalent to the password.) That's because just ordering the default is often cheaper, and the contractor will often just opt for the cheapest option. It wouldn't surprise me if this also happened with combination locks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9b9IYqsb_U

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#107

Post by bradknowles »

olalonde wrote: post #28

If the combination does allow for wiggle room and the 1 in 8000 figure is correct, the code could have been brute forced in a couple hours. Source: my wife has a habit of forgetting the combination to her 3 digit luggage lock and I had to brute force it a few times (it's surprisingly quick, about 15 minutes) :)

Did I ever tell you the story of how I had to break into the office of the Team Chief of the Logistics Readiness Center inside of the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon?

He had forgotten his briefing slides when he was about to go give an update on all logistics operations for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, and he heard the door click behind him.

He had five minutes. He got there in time, with his briefing slides. I then told the Executive Officer of the Day what the combination was, and informed them that they probably needed to change that combo since I now knew what it was.

Ironically, I ended up going through all possible combinations without success. That's when I was told that I was turning the doorknob the wrong way, and I had to start over. It didn't take too long from there.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#108

Post by m463 »

cl0ckt0wer wrote: post #100
m463 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they both tell a similar story. Someone on the tour (a machinist) played with the safe and got it open. The experts tried it at were at a different time in the past.

You can be an expert tourist.

I imagine someone traveling wearing khakis with lots of pockets, pulling a wheelie cart with a handle, breezing through airport security and opening encountered locks in moments.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#110

Post by Fjolsvith »

m463 wrote: post #108
cl0ckt0wer wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can be an expert tourist.

I imagine someone traveling wearing khakis with lots of pockets, pulling a wheelie cart with a handle, breezing through airport security and opening encountered locks in moments.

He is being followed by a guy in a pith helmet with a moustache and a big gun.
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