Are cipher locks useless? (film, 8 minutes)
This week, Mike Shake wanted to learn how to crack various combination locks, and he even tried doing it blindfolded! This decision came after he lost faith in key locks months ago when he realized how easily they could be picked using paper clips. Confident that combination locks were entirely safe, Mike decided to dive into their mechanics. He discovered that all these locks function on a similar principle; they have a shackle that opens when the inner wheels are aligned properly, allowing the teeth to slip through and unlock the device.
Mike decided to start with the cheapest lock and work his way up to the more expensive ones. He set a new combination without looking, meaning he had no idea how to open the lock. During testing, he applied tension to the shackle while checking for resistance on each wheel. To his surprise, he managed to crack the lock, which made him realize just how alarmingly easy it was to do so, particularly with a budget lock.
Next, he tackled a bike lock that cost $15, which gave him a sense of security. He attempted the same technique but didn't hear any movement. Consequently, he resorted to the indirect method, assessing resistance on each wheel again. Once he cracked this combination too, Mike grew increasingly dubious about the security of locks. He continued to unlock several other devices, noticing that the trend was worrying, particularly with the cheaper models he was familiarizing himself with.
When coming across a more expensive lock, Mike was confident it wouldn't be so simple. After multiple tries using strategic methods, he eventually identified a process typical of locks with false gate mechanisms. After almost seven minutes of effort, he managed to get it open. When he tried again, staying focused and precise, he cracked it even faster, in under five minutes. His faith in the security of these systems was continuously eroding throughout the testing.
Finally, Mike challenged himself to open his best lock while blindfolded. After many attempts, he succeeded in opening it after around 13 minutes and confirmed this achievement in about 8 minutes. Mike's experiences highlight that while locks may instill a sense of security, breaching them can be incredibly straightforward. As of the writing of this article, his video has accumulated 6,613,437 views and 162,026 likes, demonstrating significant interest in this intriguing and concerning subject.
Toggle timeline summary
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The speaker intends to learn how to crack combination locks, having lost trust in key locks.
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The speaker discovered how easy it is to pick locks, prompting research into combination locks.
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The speaker explains the mechanism of combination locks and what allows them to unlock.
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Starting with a cheaper lock, the speaker sets a combination without looking.
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The method involves finding the hardest wheel to turn and listening for clicks.
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Surprisingly, the easiest lock opened quickly, raising concerns about security.
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The second experiment is with a bike lock that costs $15, which the speaker hopes won’t crack easily.
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The speaker explores an indirect method after the first technique fails.
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The next lock is heavier, providing a sense of security but still uses the same principles.
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Cracking tougher locks proves to be just as simple despite their size.
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The speaker attempts to crack a good lock costing around $30 with great reviews.
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After several failed attempts, the speaker finally opens the best lock they had with some success.
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The challenge of opening the most expensive lock blindfolded is introduced.
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The speaker manages to crack the lock in 13 minutes after intense focus and precision.
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The video closes with encouragement for viewers to subscribe for more skill-learning content.
Transcription
This week I wanted to learn how to crack a bunch of combination locks, and then I even tried blindfolded. Why? Because a few months ago I lost all my trust in key locks, when I realized how easy it is to pick them, even using paper clips. Luckily I was pretty sure combination locks were totally safe, so I really had nothing to worry about. Until YouTube one day recommended a video about cracking a combination lock, here we go again. After a quick research to understand how a combination lock actually works, I realized that all these different locks share basically the same mechanism. This is the shackle, and if you could see inside the lock, you would see that it has four teeth corresponding with one of each dials. Each dial has an external disc with the numbers on it, and an internal wheel that is responsible for locking or unlocking the shackle. Each one of these inner wheels has a small gap at some point. When you set the right combination, all the gaps of the four wheels are aligned, allowing the shackle and its teeth to slide through freely and opening the lock. I decided to start from the cheapest lock, then moving my way up to the most expensive and hopefully safer ones. First, I set a new combination without looking at it, so that I actually had no idea how to open the lock. Following the theory, we should pull the shackle basically all the time and apply pressure against the body of the lock. Then we test each wheel to find the hardest one to turn. In this case, it is clearly this one. Now you need to turn the dial until you can clearly hear a click sound, and you feel the shackle moving a little bit. After repeating the exact same process for all the wheels, I wasn't expecting it to work, but it actually worked. It is scary how easy it is, but maybe it's just because it was the cheapest lock. The story should be different for the bike lock. It costs $15, and it's literally the one I bought to secure my beloved bike. I honestly hoped this wouldn't work. To set a new combination, you simply need to insert the right one, turn this dial, and then set a new one. And I did that without looking at the lock. I tried the same method I used for the previous lock, putting tension to the lock like if you are trying to open it, and then I tried to find the hardest wheel to turn. But this time I couldn't hear any movement or sound, so the first method wasn't working. But luckily, or unfortunately, I found another method. It's called indirect method. Like the first strategy, we pull the lock, but this time we start turning the first or last dial depending on which one of them is the hardest to move. This method consists in trying each number of the first dial until we find the one that makes the next dial bind or simply hard to turn. So starting from the first dial, I tried all the numbers, moving the second dial at each attempt, and when I tried the number 4, the second dial was significantly harder to turn than before. So the number 4 is probably the right answer. I repeated the same exact process for all the other dials until I arrived to the second last one. This is harder, but it doesn't work. So then I set the number 7, and I started simply trying every single number until this happened. No way. One more lock I can't trust. Now the last category, before trying the most expensive lock, includes these two guys. The risk lock is really heavy, and it gives me a nice sense of security. But even if the shape is pretty different, the concept doesn't change at all. When you insert the right combination, you need to push this lever, and the lock will open. I set a new combination without looking, and then I started trying. The first method of the cheap lock didn't work. I couldn't hear or feel any particular click, so I decided to try the indirect method even for this one. In this case, you need to apply constant pressure on this lever. And by starting from the first dial, you need to repeat exactly the same process I used for the bike lock. And when you find a right number in a certain dial, the next dial gets harder to turn. After a few minutes, I was pretty sure about the first two numbers. I think it's 5 and 9. Now the last one. At this point, I simply tried all the numbers of the third dial, and after a total of about 4 minutes. Let's go! Let's go! It's insane how easy it is. Like this guy is massive, but weak. Because of the shape of this lock, it's pretty hard to turn the dials, but all your friendly thief needs to solve that problem is a simple screwdriver. This makes turning the dials so much easier. And so I wanted to know how long it was gonna take me to crack the lock like this. It's 0.18, I'm pretty sure about it. Now I'm gonna try all the combinations in the last dial, like, all the numbers, until... Yeah! 2 minutes to open this massive lock. It is literally useless. For the other lock of the same category, the story is absolutely identical. Pulling the shackle, I move one dial at a time, checking the feedback on the next dial. And in 1 minute and 50 seconds, I've been able to open the lock. Now I finally wanted to see if I could crack a good lock. This one costs around 30 dollars, and it has a bunch of great reviews. I tried the first method I used on the cheap lock, and it didn't work. So then I tried the indirect method. This one worked with the bike lock, and the other two, but it wasn't working. I literally can't move this wheel anymore. And neither this one. The dials were getting stuck every single time for some reason, and I literally couldn't move them as long as I kept pulling the shackle. Is this really the impossible lock to crack? I would have been kinda happy about that, honestly. But the answer is no. This lock simply has a false gate mechanism. This means that the inner wheels not only have the gap that allows the shackle to slide, but they also have false gaps, in which the teeth of the shackle can fall, blocking the wheels, but without unlocking the lock. And after a few minutes, I was pretty sure I found a method to crack it. Like the other methods, we need to pull the shackle. But this time, you need to turn all the wheels simultaneously until they stop, and you feel the shackle loosening a little bit. This means that all the teeth of the shackle are inside the gates. True or false? The second thing to do is checking all the wheels, one by one, while pulling the shackle. And the ones that are harder to turn are probably false gates. In this case, the second dial was really hard, so I started with that one. I started by releasing the tension on the shackle, and turned the dial of two numbers. And that's because in this lock, there are false gates every two numbers. Then by pulling the shackle again, if the dial is still hard to turn, it means that it's still a false gate. It's just a matter of time, trying two by two, until the dial finally can move loosely. Which means you maybe found a true gate. After that, you simply need to repeat the same process for all the dials until they can move loosely. So I kept doing it, over and over again. And it's not easy, because you need to test all the wheels every single time you unlock one of them. But after seven minutes, the lock was open. For the second attempt, I wanted to time the process. So as I did before, I set a new combination without looking, and I started trying. It's been weird. When I thought I was close at first, I wasn't. But then I kept trying, and after a while, I started to feel the shackle moving loosely. And then... Five minutes to open the best lock I had. My trust in locks at this point was completely lost, but I wanted to see if I could actually humiliate them. I wanted to know if it was actually possible to find the right combination of my most expensive lock blindfolded. So I set a new combination. And the lock is closed. Let's see. First, I'm going to block the dials. All right, got it. At first, I thought I was making progress. I think I'm getting close, but I'm not sure. But after a while, I lost track of the position of the dials. And ten minutes later, I quit. Then I tried again, focusing on being gentle and moving one single dial at a time. And I thought I was close, while I really wasn't. And unfortunately, even this time... Second attempt failed. This is going to work now. In the beginning, I felt pretty lost once again. They keep changing, like, I fix one, and then the others change. But I kept trying being as gentle as possible. Come on, I feel like it's... The shackle is moving. I thought I was really close. And then, this happened. Yes! Yes! Let's go! Let's go! 5592. And it took me about 13 minutes. To make sure that wasn't just a fluke, I tried one more time. The key here is trying to be as precise and calm as possible, keeping everything under control. And I knew the last three dials were in the right position, so I started moving the first dial two by two. Yes! Let's go! This was quick! It took me 8 minutes and 57 seconds this time. This channel is all about learning new skills, and if you made it to this point in the video, make sure to check out more videos, subscribe and click the bell to not miss the next ones.