![]() ![]() Those who design security hardware incorporating mechanical locks often lose sight of what really makes those locks secure, and more importantly, what makes them vulnerable, even to the most elementary attacks. ![]() ![]() Security Engineering and the design of products The armor is easily compromised by bending the cable over upon itself,Įxposing the inner cable that is supposed to be protected. For those of you that have not read Ross Anderson's treatise on Security Engineering, I would recommend it as required reading, for it goes to the heart of what we view as the latest Targus design deficiency. Unfortunately, most design engineers really do not understand the concept of security engineering with regard to hardware and specifically to locking devices. The Defcon CL appears to be quite secure, but in our view, it is far from it. ![]() Based upon our findings, I think it is fair to say that the latest Targus lock is on the cutting edge - literally. As a result, an updated security alert and technical analysis has been posted on and Engadget, together with a video that demonstrates how easy this lock can be compromised. Evidently not! We sought to determine the new lock's resistance to both covert and forced methods of entry. This was the same journalist that wrote a detailed story about laptop locks in September 2004 that followed our security alert regarding the Defcon, wherein we described the simple method to decode its combination and quickly open it.īased upon the Targus press release and verbiage on the product packaging that extolled the Defcon CL Armor as having "more cut resistance and greater protection against cable cutters than other leading security cables," an associate and I decided to revisit the security of the new design and see if Targus has learned anything about the design of security products in the last two years. Its Targus time!Ī security analysis of this new product was prompted by a recent call from a technology reporter at the St. Marc Weber Tobias and Matt Fiddler demonstrate how the Targus Defcon CL security device can be defeated in seconds with a piece of metal from a beer can, or with a paper clip. If you thought that this hefty looking lock was secure? Think again. ![]()
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