Locksmithing Blog

David Mitchell makes a very valid point in this funny video – the word “passionate” is certainly overused and misused. So why would I say that I’m passionate about locks, security and safes? Because I am!

Partly, it’s because I’m a good locksmith – people tend to like things they have a natural flair for – but it feeds back, and becomes a passion. I will spend hours learning to defeat a new lock on the market, just because it is there. I’ll fiddle with a key and a bit of wire and the lock cylinder for hours if I think there is a way to beat it, and in the case of most of the products I supply or fit, I know exactly what the limitations of them are. And that, in turn, makes me a better locksmith.

Discreet Security are open for any emergency work during the world cup. Should you manage to lock yourself out, give us a ring! If you are in our area, we will get you in fast.

In other news, come on England!

I was amazed to see that gold prices have gone up to 5 times what they were just a few years ago.

This is reflected in the many adverts promising cash-for-gold, but it is also sadly spurring an increase in crime. Gold is easy to fence – you just stick it in the prepaid envelope and they send you a cheque…

If you have a large range of gold jewellery, it might be worth considering buying a safe in which to keep it, rather than trusting a rather too portable jewellery box.

If you want to keep your liquid assets protected from casual burglary, or even rather more determined attacks, please give us a call. And whatever you do, don’t buy a cheap digital safe! Contact an expert for guidance.

Happy to report that Discreet Security’s first quarter has been up on last year, both in volume of work and turnover. Following relocation, which is always difficult for a small company, things are going well.

Although we face a lot of competition from new starts and those often less able than ourselves when it comes to opening a door, our professional approach and sheer first class ability seems to be garnering good word of mouth.

Every call brings something new, and this has ranged from panic room and access control installations taking days right through to un-bending a non-working key (for a house mortice lock) or fishing out a snapped key (in a car door lock) and copying a new one on the van, which can take very little time with the right tools.

With calm and dedication, we aim to leave you happy and secure.

Thank you to all our customers, past and future, and, of course, repeat!

Heavy rain overnight, and a lot of the snow has melted away now, so we are no longer snowed in.

Hopefully some couriers will arrive with desperately needed stock today! (We’ve now run out of our most popular security upgrade completely!)

Whether you are locked out in an emergency, or just need a lock changed tomorrow, give us a call.

Sad to report that after a week of careful driving and extreme weather, we are now snowed out (or snowed in).

With a layer of ice under 6″ of snow, conditions are treacherous, and even 4×4’s are struggling. Due to our rural location, and the lack of ploughing and gritting, we have no hope of reaching a main road. Even worse, we have had only two postal deliveries and two courier deliveries in the last 14 days, meaning that we have literally run out of the slip-resistant security upgrade nightlatches that are currently such a popular choice.

If you need a job doing, please still give us a call, as we can either schedule the work for once the roads clear, or help find someone else reliable to help you.

Stay safe out there.

For the last 12 months the Government, particularly DEFRA and NaCTSO (National Counter Terrorism Security Office) have been telling farmers and farms to secure their fertiliser.

If you are interested in having a professional security review, or even secure area penetration testing (where we, with your permission, come and try to break in) then please contact us on 0845 355 0945, or by email at your leisure.

And it doesn’t need to be your fertiliser store – we test and audit everything from homes to hi-tech businesses!

I was reading New Scientist (last weeks issue, 12/12/09), and I stumbled across a small but interesting story on page 7:

A Chinese woman used plastic surgery to fool a biometric fingerprint scanner. The appropriately named Lin Rong was arrested in Japan for being an illegal immigrant. Police report that she had swapped skin patches from her thumb and index finger to the opposite hand!

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/198634-Fake-fingerprint-Chinese-woman-fools-Japan-controls has a little more detail.

This made me think, as it does. The two most common things I do, as a locksmith, is fake a key (by picking the lock, decoding it, impressioning, etc.) and revoke a key (changing a lock, re-levering a pack, re-pinning a cylinder, etc.)

This woman revoked her biometric keys, in order to present a new set to the border controls, where they take a copy of the fingerprints of every foreigner that enters their country. This is done because you cannot revoke such biometric keys easily. And this is, as I have said before, the biggest issue with biometric security.

If she had simply used latex paint to do this, she would have been fine, and not required such surgery. But what if she had done that and used your fingerprint? There is no way you can then change your “keys” to a new set, meaning that when you go to Japan, you’d find access denied. This would baffle everyone, especially if, like me, you are a man! However, it would still require someone there with the ability to override the system, which there may not be. And, the first person to present your keys would have already long since left.

I’m pretty sure you would miss your connecting flight…