Much has been made about LPL s and his astonishing skill, but I’d like to briefly mention my appreciation for LPL the showman.
I really think the style and format of his show makes it so incredibly watchable. I love his voice, the delivery, and the way he so articulately breaks down how he thinks and approaches problem solving. He really makes you feel like you could do it too.
It’s very subtle but as a showman he’s one of the alltime best on YouTube.
In one of his videos he explained his process with videos. He wants to rule out the possibility of deceptive editing, so he only includes takes done in a single shot (at least for the portion where he demonstrates the technique). As a result, he keeps things short, as that reduces the chance of misspeaking and having to reshoot.
> And the fact that he doesn’t surround his videos with tons of cruft to make them longer.
Unlike most full-time Youtubers, LPL does not need to pad out videos or pander to sponsors to make a living, and he doesn't need to engage in clickbaiting and SEO/algorithm manipulation to lure new viewers. This independency from anyone else is what allows him the complete artistic control to do videos the way he prefers.
He’s also the only YouTuber I’ve ever bought something from. He does a great job of using the things he sells in videos to demonstrate their value and he’s not overly pushy about it like many other creators. He’ll simply mention that the tool he uses is one that is available for purchase from him, no different than mentioning the names of other tools he uses. It’s an ingenious and very effective sales pitch.
From years of experience of being around Lawyers, many of them seek the need to say things in the most unnecessary complex and impersonal ways. Lawyers are often terrible communicators.
Also, he doesn’t start off being able to pick X lock in two seconds or whatever. He fiddles with things a while until it’s optimized. That is what makes it entertaining as well. You don’t have to sit through the whole process. He usually notes anything interesting that came up. Mostly you get results.
If you watch LPL enough, you get the notion that most locks are for keeping honest people honest rather than stopping a determined attacker. All the comments from people who have managed to lock themselves out further reinforce that.
Well, there's a selection bias in LPL's videos: If he can't pick a lock today, he doesn't make a video until he can.
But you're right at a higher level: 99% of buildings have glass windows. Paying $$$$ for locks that go beyond "keeping honest people honest" is pointless if they can be bypassed with a rock.
You have to realise that LPL has a very specific set of skills. Skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make hom a nightmare for people like masterlock.
I had a locksmith out a couple of years ago, and was very disappointed when he simply got out a drill rather than starting with 'click out of one'.
I feel like this comment comes up every time LPL is discussed outside of his context and I think it discounts the hundreds of low / no skill attacks he has demonstrated which apply to many, probably most, of the locks with recognisable name brands that are for sale in brick & mortar stores.
It took me 30 minutes to make and use a tool that he demonstrated using on a lock similar to one I own and most of that time was spent rummaging around my place trying find stuff.
Lastly, I think you got taken advantage of by a locksmith out to sell more locks and keys.
The locksmith drills your lock because it takes no skill and allows them to sell (or forces you to buy) a new lock and set of keys at whatever weird time of day it happens to be. The price is almost certainly going to be higher out of normal hours. Plus if he picks the lock in 30 seconds you may not pay such a high fee.
Honestly, when it comes to most US locks, they really are a joke.
I learned to pick my parents safe and door locks by 8, and have taught dozens of children to pick virtually every lock you can find in a hardware store.
As a security engineer the first thing I teach peers isn't even software, but lock picking.
Peoples minds really open up when you show them how to open every lock in their own office in under an hour of training.
"Is security on almost everything we trust every day really this shit?!"
> I had a locksmith out a couple of years ago, and was very disappointed when he simply got out a drill rather than starting with 'click out of one'.
That’s a common occurrence because of the incentives. The locksmith wants to spend as little time as possible (average time), and doesn’t pay a premium for destroying the lock, since most people don’t confront them on that.
LPL is amazing, but any decent locksmith could get at least near enough him in competence. It’s not that it’s so hard that very little people can do it, it’s that is very niche for most people to learn.
Also if you actually watch this keynote half the problem isn’t locks you can actually pick but stuff you can just open with very basic tools that don’t even require the skill he has. Like combs, rakes, hammers, slithers of metal, etc.
Going by a presentation from a professional pen tester lock picking is usually far down on their list because there are easier ways to open many doors without picking the lock.
You have to excuse that I didn't watch the video, so i might be missing some context.
LPL's career isn't lockpicking is it? I was under the impression that it was just a hobby that turned into a youtube channel. I seem to recall him saying that he just picks locks all the time, and that's why he's good. I think he said that when he watches movies he takes a 30 locks and then he just sits there and picks them while watching.
Locks are worse than you think. I'm not skilled, I don't practice, but I've been able to get my parents back in their house within 5 minutes both times they've locked themselves out.
You call out masterlock but they're particularly bad. I lost the key to one and kept using it for a year because unlocking it was as simple as just putting the pick in while turning.
I encourage you to try out locksport as a hobby. Pretty much anyone can learn to pop open a masterlock padlock in 30 seconds or so with maybe a couple hours practice. Don't get me wrong, he makes even really, really hard to pick locks look easy, but that doesn't negate the fact that a lot of locks are just actually easy.
The locks I am most impressed with are from the days of alcohol prohibition. Some doors to speak-easy's looked like part of the wall, had no key holes. Rather just small holes all over the "wall" and you had to poke a piece of metal through the right holes and push/pull the wall in a known way. No windows, no appearance of a room, just a wall. The stairs leading down to it would usually go right past the "door" into a basement storage room with nothing exciting to see. The cops could walk right past the door a thousand times. It might be fun to build a home like this. I suppose you just have to design it so people can not see where you actually entered.
So the interesting thing is that nearly all home insurance policies stipulate that you're only covered for theft if there are signs of forced entry - but clearly, any lock can be picked without leaving a mark. So I'd assume either these policies are a scam, or actual real world thieves are not very good lockpickers and a good old crowbar is simply faster and easier.
Source please? Standard HO-3 policy defines theft coverage as
9. Theft
a. This peril includes attempted theft and loss
of property from a known place when it is
likely that the property has been stolen.
b. This peril does not include loss caused by
theft:
(1) Committed by an "insured";
(2) In or to a dwelling under construction, or
of materials and supplies for use in the
construction until the dwelling is finished
and occupied;
(3) From that part of a "residence premises"
rented by an "insured" to someone other
than another "insured"; or
(4) That occurs off the "residence premises" of:
(a) Trailers, semitrailers and campers;
(b) Watercraft of all types, and their
furnishings, equipment and outboard
engines or motors; or
(c) Property while at any other residence
owned by, rented to, or occupied by
an "insured", except while an "insured" is temporarily living there.
Property of an "insured" who is a
student is covered while at the residence the student occupies to attend
school as long as the student has
been there at any time during the 60
days immediately before the loss
My policy from a large building society in the UK has an explicit section for cover for theft /not/ using force and violence, but it doesn't apply if the house is lent/let/sublet. That is covered by the preceding section of theft using force and violence.
I.e. force and violence required if letting the property.
I bought lockpicks for the kids when covid hit for something to do. Within an hour, everyone could open the practice lock which is in a clear casing. Within a week, we could all open your typical masterlock and my daughter could open any of the locks you might purchase from home depot.
I spent many, many years in jail. It was fascinating to look at all the types and styles of locks used and try to figure out how to defeat them. The locks on the cells are practically impossible to pick with anything available, IMO, but the bolt itself was easy to defeat. Every cell I've been in has been insanely simple to open once the secret was known, and the knowledge was passed between all the inmates over the years.
It is so common for people to let themselves out of their cells whenever they want that I almost never saw anyone disciplined for the infraction unless you did something dumb like walked up to a sleeping guard and spooked them.
Handcuffs are hilarious. The tiny little bendable pens they sold in the jail were the best way to open the handcuffs - you can just push the nib in and turn it. Tons of people would pop the locks on their cuffs as soon as a guard wasn't looking, but you'd generally need to keep them loose on your wrists so that they would visibly look secure. Again, the guards would just grumble if you took your cuffs off, not write you up for it.
In other words, if there was no lock, I'd enter houses that I can reasonably think are empty / populated by feeble elders myself eventually, however "honest" I appear to be now when I'm surrounded with locks and barriers to crime in general.
It's really interesting stuff, although realistically, the situations in which it matters how hard to pick a lock is are pretty rare -- the majority of situations where an evil actor is trying to bypass a lock are ones where they'd be willing to employ destructive techniques instead.
Some locks are surprisingly easy to open, despite being highly in use.
Locks are to slow an attacker. A determined attacker can bypass almost any lock, but not stealthy enough. If you drill the lock in my front door, you wake up the entire street. If you can pick it in 30 sec in the middle of the night, you wouldn't wake up anyone, but some kind of camera probably picked you up.
I used to pass this bicycle parking at a train station twice a day. I'd always look at the locks (or lack thereof) while walking, quickly thinking which ones I could certainly open (and the question is always: how quick). But I never gave in to the desire, despite a lack of locks and peers (for practice/fun).
If you pick my lock and open my door (or any window in my house) you and I will hear a 90 dB siren and I'll be waiting with a 12 gauge in about 5 seconds after the alarm goes off. I don't understand why anyone doesn't have a basic security and motion sensor setup in their house in this day and age.
I too find his explanation on each click soothing.
Except when he got challenged to open a “difficult” bike lock in under 2 minutes by another locksmith he was dead silent the entire time and opened it in like 20 seconds.
I want LPL to tell me once what to buy, not keep telling me what not to buy 1400 times. It's educational, I understand, but man, can you put up one video where you tell us what you use on your own front door?
I have done a little bit of lock picking as a hobby, and LPL is somewhat of a lock-picking Mozart. Locks I struggle with, he picks in less than 30 seconds.
He has inspired me to become better at lock picking, which helped me at least once when I locked myself out of my locker at work. My Assa-Abloy lock which would have taken me 20 minutes before was open in under 2 minutes.
I am convinced he’s a savant. A combination of maybe naturally higher senses in the fingers and a methodical approach to solving puzzles.
I got pretty good pretty fast at picking, and that convinced me he is otherworldly in his talent and abilities.
On another note, I’m really going to miss Bosnian Bill, he excelled as a teacher and worked hard to remove anything mystical or subjective from approaching lock picking. LPL is great, but still doesn’t quite go into deep detail about how to improve at tensioning, dealing with various types of pins, in a way that resonates with “regular” people, where Bill was just a huge help in those areas.
The intro explaining the weirdness he was exposed to as a result of the channel was eye-opening and shocking to me. Some weirdness is to be expected, but the level of stalking resulting from even such a non-controversial channel is not something I would have thought of.
Edit: Didn't think of the "locksmiths hate it" aspect that probably explains at least some of the crazy (e.g. trackers).
LPL videos are an example in educational videos. Clear explanations, no fluff, no finger pointing (except for Master Lock and unbacked marketing claims) and real expertise.
I keep bringing up smartcards in every thread, but I just can't help it. Car keys seems to be moving towards contactless, at least Tesla got a right idea, there's even open-source implementation as an applet for it https://github.com/darconeous/gauss-key-card.
Cryptography is math and you can't beat math, cost and scale will always limit complicated physical keys. And most existing electronic keys/tags/fobs/cards use cheaper not-quite-smartcards that are vulnerable to replay attacks and cloning, LPL even had some videos about them.
Tesla got it wrong in the sense BT is vulnerable to repeater attacks and such could likely be used to steal your car, assuming you were targeted by someone trying.
Repeater attacks can be mitigated by putting a time limit for a response from the device used as the key (e.g. phone). That's how a lot of contactless payment terminals ensure the physical credit card is in proximity of the reader and someone isn't relaying the responses across the country.
I don't know how Tesla implemented their key, but there's nothing in BT that makes it inherently vulnerable to repeater attacks. Garage doors addressed that problem a long time ago by changing the code after every successful opening.
Cut Bluetooth then, I'm not talking about Bluetooth. Google Titan also had a Bluetooth version which was also vulnerable I think. And even BLE needs a battery, smartcards (or smart rings) don't.
And there's the weakness. An emergency key that you can use means there's an emergency keyway that can be picked.
And thank goodness, too. I spoke to a locksmith a while back and he told me about some fancy import sports car with no emergency keyway and there was a child locked in, and of course the key was in the vehicle.
He did get the door open, IIRC there was a button to press to unlock, but not where his long-reach tool could easily get to. He said a cop had to watch from the other side and guide him to the button. He said it took around an hour to open.
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I really think the style and format of his show makes it so incredibly watchable. I love his voice, the delivery, and the way he so articulately breaks down how he thinks and approaches problem solving. He really makes you feel like you could do it too.
It’s very subtle but as a showman he’s one of the alltime best on YouTube.
Probably the only YouTuber that tries to sell me stuff and I totally think that is a good and natural idea.
Unlike most full-time Youtubers, LPL does not need to pad out videos or pander to sponsors to make a living, and he doesn't need to engage in clickbaiting and SEO/algorithm manipulation to lure new viewers. This independency from anyone else is what allows him the complete artistic control to do videos the way he prefers.
Agreed. I think this video is a nice (simple) demonstration of his style in this regard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoGCIuO2XkM
But you're right at a higher level: 99% of buildings have glass windows. Paying $$$$ for locks that go beyond "keeping honest people honest" is pointless if they can be bypassed with a rock.
https://youtu.be/qV8QKZNFxLw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJN6VHWaerA
I had a locksmith out a couple of years ago, and was very disappointed when he simply got out a drill rather than starting with 'click out of one'.
LPL makes things look easy, I'm sure they aren't.
It took me 30 minutes to make and use a tool that he demonstrated using on a lock similar to one I own and most of that time was spent rummaging around my place trying find stuff.
Lastly, I think you got taken advantage of by a locksmith out to sell more locks and keys.
I learned to pick my parents safe and door locks by 8, and have taught dozens of children to pick virtually every lock you can find in a hardware store.
As a security engineer the first thing I teach peers isn't even software, but lock picking.
Peoples minds really open up when you show them how to open every lock in their own office in under an hour of training.
"Is security on almost everything we trust every day really this shit?!"
"Yes"
That’s a common occurrence because of the incentives. The locksmith wants to spend as little time as possible (average time), and doesn’t pay a premium for destroying the lock, since most people don’t confront them on that.
LPL is amazing, but any decent locksmith could get at least near enough him in competence. It’s not that it’s so hard that very little people can do it, it’s that is very niche for most people to learn.
“Locksmith says my videos are BS… Loses $75 (Maybe)”
https://youtu.be/NSuaUok-wTY
Also if you actually watch this keynote half the problem isn’t locks you can actually pick but stuff you can just open with very basic tools that don’t even require the skill he has. Like combs, rakes, hammers, slithers of metal, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnmcRTnTNC8
Someone who wants to get in is probably already on his way out while LPL is only halfway through with the lock.
LPL's career isn't lockpicking is it? I was under the impression that it was just a hobby that turned into a youtube channel. I seem to recall him saying that he just picks locks all the time, and that's why he's good. I think he said that when he watches movies he takes a 30 locks and then he just sits there and picks them while watching.
You call out masterlock but they're particularly bad. I lost the key to one and kept using it for a year because unlocking it was as simple as just putting the pick in while turning.
9. Theft
a. This peril includes attempted theft and loss of property from a known place when it is likely that the property has been stolen.
b. This peril does not include loss caused by theft:
(1) Committed by an "insured";
(2) In or to a dwelling under construction, or of materials and supplies for use in the construction until the dwelling is finished and occupied;
(3) From that part of a "residence premises" rented by an "insured" to someone other than another "insured"; or
(4) That occurs off the "residence premises" of:
(a) Trailers, semitrailers and campers; (b) Watercraft of all types, and their furnishings, equipment and outboard engines or motors; or (c) Property while at any other residence owned by, rented to, or occupied by an "insured", except while an "insured" is temporarily living there. Property of an "insured" who is a student is covered while at the residence the student occupies to attend school as long as the student has been there at any time during the 60 days immediately before the loss
I.e. force and violence required if letting the property.
It is so common for people to let themselves out of their cells whenever they want that I almost never saw anyone disciplined for the infraction unless you did something dumb like walked up to a sleeping guard and spooked them.
Handcuffs are hilarious. The tiny little bendable pens they sold in the jail were the best way to open the handcuffs - you can just push the nib in and turn it. Tons of people would pop the locks on their cuffs as soon as a guard wasn't looking, but you'd generally need to keep them loose on your wrists so that they would visibly look secure. Again, the guards would just grumble if you took your cuffs off, not write you up for it.
In other words, if there was no lock, I'd enter houses that I can reasonably think are empty / populated by feeble elders myself eventually, however "honest" I appear to be now when I'm surrounded with locks and barriers to crime in general.
Locks are to slow an attacker. A determined attacker can bypass almost any lock, but not stealthy enough. If you drill the lock in my front door, you wake up the entire street. If you can pick it in 30 sec in the middle of the night, you wouldn't wake up anyone, but some kind of camera probably picked you up.
I used to pass this bicycle parking at a train station twice a day. I'd always look at the locks (or lack thereof) while walking, quickly thinking which ones I could certainly open (and the question is always: how quick). But I never gave in to the desire, despite a lack of locks and peers (for practice/fun).
The trouble is very few of these can be found in the US as consumers here favor low prices and a 10/10 promise over any actual security.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/irszx0/wp_h...
"Anyways, that’s all for me today, if you liked this video please subscribe to see more videos like this, and as always, have a nice day."
Except when he got challenged to open a “difficult” bike lock in under 2 minutes by another locksmith he was dead silent the entire time and opened it in like 20 seconds.
Deleted Comment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXoS_HB1I3o
He has inspired me to become better at lock picking, which helped me at least once when I locked myself out of my locker at work. My Assa-Abloy lock which would have taken me 20 minutes before was open in under 2 minutes.
I got pretty good pretty fast at picking, and that convinced me he is otherworldly in his talent and abilities.
On another note, I’m really going to miss Bosnian Bill, he excelled as a teacher and worked hard to remove anything mystical or subjective from approaching lock picking. LPL is great, but still doesn’t quite go into deep detail about how to improve at tensioning, dealing with various types of pins, in a way that resonates with “regular” people, where Bill was just a huge help in those areas.
Edit: Didn't think of the "locksmiths hate it" aspect that probably explains at least some of the crazy (e.g. trackers).
Cryptography is math and you can't beat math, cost and scale will always limit complicated physical keys. And most existing electronic keys/tags/fobs/cards use cheaper not-quite-smartcards that are vulnerable to replay attacks and cloning, LPL even had some videos about them.
Edit for reference: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25187170
But you can beat badly written software.
Moving towards? I don’t think you can buy a car that has a physical key anymore can you (except for the emergency key you can pry out.)
And thank goodness, too. I spoke to a locksmith a while back and he told me about some fancy import sports car with no emergency keyway and there was a child locked in, and of course the key was in the vehicle.
He did get the door open, IIRC there was a button to press to unlock, but not where his long-reach tool could easily get to. He said a cop had to watch from the other side and guide him to the button. He said it took around an hour to open.
I'm tired to list more.