Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#81

Post by Lio » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 8:46 AM UTC

kennyloginz wrote: post #69

User23 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would one need labor to operate a safe-deposit box business? Because physical security boils down to capable men with guns, whether that's private security, the police, or godfather type arrangements.

drones , remote weapons, surveillance tech, “lingering weapons”, has shown that physical security absolutely does not boil down to “ capable men with guns”.

> Because physical security boils down to capable men with guns, whether that's private security, the police, or godfather type arrangements.

>> drones , remote weapons, surveillance tech, “lingering weapons”, has shown that physical security absolutely does not boil down to “ capable men with guns”.

How is that disproving the parents point?

Capable men with drones is not meaningfully different to capable men with guns, or pointy sticks for that matter.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#82

Post by _cenw » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 8:51 AM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #78

ggm wrote: post #49

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-30/judge-ba... TL;DR warrantless search by government, seizure of presumed guilty until proven innocent findings.

This is unbelievable. It’s like living in a dictators regime.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_Unit...

It’s probably worse than you think.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#83

Post by rkagerer » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:07 AM UTC

I've also seen reports of banks that move/consolidate branches shipping deposit box contents with couriers like UPS etc. who lose them.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#84

Post by bigbacaloa » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:12 AM UTC

Wistar wrote: post #53

ananonymoususer wrote: post #50

Nothing is 100% secure, but I have opted for a high-quality gun/fire safe that's bolted to the foundation of my home (in a gated community), and protected by multiple monitored alarm systems and cameras. The safe has a lot more room than any bank's box would, it's cheaper in the long-run, and IMHO (especially after reading the fine article) more secure. Also, it's got a S&G spin-dial lock that I trust a lot more than…

Where in the house is the safe located? I saw a video some years ago that made a fairly compelling case for locating the safe in a pantry or laundry room or anywhere other than the master bedroom, master closet, master bath or home office.

I have a safe in the wall behind a permanent bookshelf in a random room of my house. One has to remove several shelves and a false back to get at it. A safe is best hidden - otherwise seeing it is an incentive to rob you. My children don't know it exists.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#85

Post by bigbacaloa » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:14 AM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #35

version_five wrote: post #12

Wells Fargo — which in recent years has admitted to systematically ripping off customers with fake accounts, hidden fees and a variety of unwanted and unnecessary financial products — didn’t follow that law. I normally don't like the NYT and I know it continues to get worse, but we need more of this calling our bullshit plainly. I wish we had this in the Canadian media, most of our big companies (and all our banks) a…

On the contrary, I wish the media would not present Wells Fargo as a uniquely bad actor. The only difference between them and the other big banks is that Wells Fargo got caught. Reading an article like this, you might think you would be better off with BofA or Citibank or Chase, but that’s not the case. They are all the same — constrained by a banking culture and a regulatory regime that forces them to all be the sam…

Having banked with Wells Fargo and been cheated by them in various ways, I'd say they are in fact a uniquely bad actor - far worse than any other comparable large bank - and that's taking into account that such a baseline is quite a bad one.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#86

Post by chrismcb » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:16 AM UTC

gorgoiler wrote: post #60

Wistar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in the house is the safe located? I saw a video some years ago that made a fairly compelling case for locating the safe in a pantry or laundry room or anywhere other than the master bedroom, master closet, master bath or home office.

While it would be nice to have something that could withstand a casual burglar, the more likely threat to my stuff is a house fire. Where is the best for a safe to survive in a burning building, but also not be visible to anyone and remain thermally neutral? Fire safes are passive thermal sinks that reflect and damp heat transfer for as long as possible before ultimately turning into a giant heavy toaster oven. I won…

Keep in mind safes have a rated drop height usually only one floor

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#87

Post by HyperSane » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:19 AM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #61

Wistar wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in the house is the safe located? I saw a video some years ago that made a fairly compelling case for locating the safe in a pantry or laundry room or anywhere other than the master bedroom, master closet, master bath or home office.

Piggybacking off of that, what is the combination? As your friends here at HN, we want to make sure it's cryptographically strong.

hunter2

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#88

Post by dmoy » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:22 AM UTC

smaili wrote: post #43

Are there any actual alternatives? Keeping your valuables at home or places like Public Storage aren't the safest of places either.

No it's like democracy - safe deposit boxes are the worst form of security for small things, except for all the others.

If you have land in the middle of nowhere you can bury shit in the ground. But that's not a realistic option for most people.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#89

Post by KMag » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:31 AM UTC

ilammy wrote: post #27

shric wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Store them in the cloud (or multiple clouds if you wish) encrypted with an extremely strong passphrase that you definitely won't forget?

How do you access the cloud if you lost your laptop? Or even all of your stuff burned down along with your house? How do you remember a strong passphrase after four months in hospital recovering from a cerebral trauma? Emergency emergencies. Off-site physical backups are important too.

Yea, a friend of mine's younger brother suffered a stroke in college, and couldn't remember his laptop password. My understanding is that at least some of the important files were encrypted.

Re: Safe deposit boxes aren’t safe (2019)

#90

Post by prima-facie » Sat, Jan 07, 2023, 9:45 AM UTC

I used to work for a small IT company based in London on Hatton Garden a few years ago.

At lunch time we used to stroll down to the food market on Leather Lane for a quick bite. It was busy like a bee hive with people working in the city and I absolutely loved it.

I remember walking past all those glitzy jewelry stores on Hatton Garden and staring at the various stuff they had on display - thinking I would never want to work in that business given the risks involved.

Then during the Easter bank holiday in 2015 the famous heist happened at number 88.

I've never seen so many TV vans reporting from the site for weeks on end. It felt completely surreal.

That event confirmed for me that concentrating so many valuables in such a small space (even if tightly guarded) is too risky.

Your home could in theory be burgled but it will never be as attractive as a room full of deposit boxes.